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THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 


T 


HE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 


FOR  THE  CLASS-ROOM  AND  THE  STUDY 


BY    .^ 

T.  HARWOOD  PATTISON 

"Professor  of  Homiletics  and  Pastoral  Theology  in  the 

T^ochester  Theological  Seminary 

AUTHOR  OF 

*'  The  History  of  the  English  Bible, ^^  etc. 


) 

**  The  royal  ordinance  of  Preaching  ** 

— Edward  Irving 


Philadelphia 

Bmcrican  :ffiaptl0t  ipublication  Societi^ 


Copyright  1898  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society 


Published  September,  1902 


jfrom  tbc  Society's  own  press 


PREFACE 


The  title  of  this  book  sufificiently  indicates  its 
purpose.  While  intended  primarily  for  the  use  of 
the  student  in  the  class-room,  I  have  also  written 
it  with  an  eye  to  a  still  wider  audience.  I  trust 
that  it  may  be  of  use  to  some  ministers  who  have 
not  taken  a  seminary  course,  and  also  to  many  more 
whose  class-room  work,  receding  year  by  year, 
threatens,  by  the  lapse  of  time  and  by  the  pres- 
sure of  many  duties  needing  their  immediate  at- 
tention, to  become  a  faint  and  ineffectual  memory. 

It  is  perhaps  inevitable,  unless  he  guards  himself 
against  it  most  jealously,  that  the  preacher  should 
become  a  slave  to  the  tyranny  of  his  own  habits  of 
pulpit  preparation.  This  is  due  to  many  causes  : 
to  the  absorbing  claims  of  pastoral  work,  which 
often  leaves  neither  the  time  nor  the  vigor  which 
is  needed,  if  new  methods  are  to  be  tried  ;  to  the 
dread  of  making  any  material  change  in  habits 
which  have  come  to  be  so  much  a  part  of  himself ; 
and  to  the  almost  breathless  frequency  with  which 
Sundays  recur,  suggesting  that  they  are  somehow 
independent  of  the  calendar  that  regulates  the 
other  days  of  the  week.  Amid  the  swift  succes- 
sion of  his  various  engagements  he  is  tempted  to 
fall  back  on  Abraham   Lincoln's  favorite  counsel, 


VI  PREFACE 

not  to  swap  horses  while  crossing  a  stream,  and 
to  decide  that  in  the  making  of  his  sermons 
whatever  is,  is  best.  Under  these  circumstances 
it  is  only  the  preacher  of  a  resolute  mind  and  a 
highly  conscientious  nature  who  can  be  depended 
on  to  make  any  material  advance  in  his  way  of  pre- 
paring to  preach.  No  man  is  in  greater  danger  of 
becoming  formal — I  will  not  say  fossilized — -than 
is  the  ordinary  preacher.  Even  when  the  happy 
experiences  of  his  pastorate  keep  his  heart  young, 
there  may  be  no  springtime  in  his  habits  of 
thought.  Every  true  preacher  will  bear  me  wit- 
ness that  there  are  times  when  he  resents  the  mo- 
notony of  his  work  ;  not  that  he  is  tired  of  it,  but 
only,  as  George  Whitefield  said  so  pathetically, 
that  he  is  tired  in  it.  Unconsciously  to  himself, 
perhaps,  he  furnishes  a  fresh  illustration  of  the 
truth  of  Lord  Bacon's  weighty  words  :  "  A  man 
would  die,  though  he  was  neither  valiant  nor  mis- 
erable, only  upon  a  weariness  to  do  the  same  thing 
so  oft  over  and  over." 

One  cure  for  this  wearisome  trend  in  his  pulpit 
preparation  he  may  find  in  frequently  reviewing 
his  course  and  revising  his  methods.  The  busi- 
ness of  preaching  fulfills  itself  in  many  ways,  and 
we  are  wise  if,  even  though  it  be  at  the  cost  of  be- 
traying some  lack  of  ease  as  we  strike  into  them, 
we  now  and  then  resolve  to  explore  the  unbeaten 
paths  of  our  vocation. 

No  one  method  of  preparing  or  delivering  a  ser- 
mon   is    so   certainly  the   best   method   that  the 


PREFACE  Vll 

preacher  can  afford  to  neglect  all  others.  '*  Still 
learnmg,"  the  brave  words  with  which  Michael 
Angelo  in  extreme  old  age  faced  the  snows  of  a 
Roman  winter  in  order  that  he  might  study  afresh 
the  lines  of  the  Colosseum,  may  well  be  the  motto 
of  all  true  workers,  of  ourselves  among  the  rest. 

Although  we  may  be  disposed  to  challenge  the 
implication  which  it  contains,  I  think  we  may  all 
join  in  Thomas  Carlyle's  sentiment  when  he  wrote : 
''  I  wish  he  could  find  the  point  again — this  speak- 
ing one,  and  stick  to  it  with  tenacity,  with  deadly 
energy — for  there  is  need  of  him  yet." 

Rather  than  encumber  the  pages  of  the  book 
with  the  many  formal  divisions  needed  in  the  class- 
room, I  have  prefixed  to  each  chapter  a  summary 
of  its  contents,  analyzed  for  the  benefit  of  the  stu- 
dent. For  the  index  which  may  better  answer  the 
purposes  of  the  ordinary  reader,  I  am  indebted  to 
the  generous  offices  of  my  friend,  the  Rev.  R. 
Kerr  Eccles,  m.  d.,  of  Bowling  Green,  Ohio. 

T.  H.  P. 

Rochester,  May,  1898. 


i 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGH 

I.  What  is   Preaching? -      i 

II.  The  Text 19 

Its  History,  Use,  and  Structure. 

III.  The  Text  (Continued) 33 

Its  Subject-matter. 

IV.  The  Treatment   of  the  Text 51 

The  Topical  Sermon. 

V.  The  Treatment  of  the  Text  (Continued)  .    63 
The  Textual  Sermon. 

VI.  The  Treatment  of  the  Text  (Continued)  .    t'j 
The  Expository  Sermon. 

VII.  The  Theme 95 

Definition,  Advantages,  Sources,  Characteristics. 

VIII.  The  Theme  (Continued) 113 

The  Plan  and  the  Theme. 
The  Preparation  of  the  Plan. 

IX.  The  Theme  (Continued) 123 

Classification  of  Sermons. 

X.   Parts  of  the  Sermon 141 

The  Introduction. 

XI.   Parts  of  the  Sermon  (Continued) 155 

The  Divisions. 

XII.   Parts  of  the  Sermon  (Continued) 175 

The  Conclusion. 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

XIII.  Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  .    .    .189 

The  Sermon  as  a  Literary  and  Oratorical 
Composition. 

XIV.  Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  (Con- 

tinued)   209 

Exegesis. 

XV.  Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  (Con- 
tinued)   223 

Argument. 

XVI.   Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  (Con- 
tinued)   237 

Argument  (Continued). 

XVII.  Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  (Con- 
tinued)   253 

Illustration. 

XVIII.   Rhetorical  Elements  in  the  Sermon  (Con- 
tinued)   271 

Illustration  (Continued). 

XIX.  The  Delivery  of  the  Sermon 289 

In  General. 

XX.  The  Delivery  of  the  Sermon  (Continued)  301 
The  Read  Sermon. 

XXI.  The  Delivery  OF  the  Sermon  (Continued)  319 
The  Extemporaneous  Sermon. 

XXII.  The  Delivery  of  the  Sermon  (Continued)  335 
The  Composite  Method. 

XXIII.  The  Preacher  and  His  Hearer 352 

Conclusion. 


WHAT  IS  PREACHING? 


SUMMARY 


Definition.     Preaching  is  the  spoken  communication  of  divine 
truth  with  a  view  to  persuasion. 

I.  The  Matter  of  Preaching.     "  Divine  Truth." 

1.  The  limit  of  preaching.     It  must  be  tlie  proclamation  and 

enforcement  of  divine  truth  :  (i)  The  delivery  of  a  mes- 
sage from  God  to  man  ;  (2)  The  message  must  concern 
itself  with  religion  ;  (3)  It  should  be  founded  upon  Scrip- 
ture ;   (4)  It  must  be  in  sympathy  with  both  God  and  man. 

2.  The  extent  of  preaching.     Divine  truth  cannot  be  all  com- 

municated in  one  sermon.  With  many  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  religion  the  sermon  may  deal  only  indirectly. 
Narrow  views  of  the  scope  of  the  sermon  deprecated. 

3.  The  authority  for  preaching.     Concerned  with  positive  truth. 

The  pulpit  no  place  for  intellectual  doubts,  for  matters 
purely  speculative,  or  for  negations.     Its  true  mission. 

II.  The  Manner  in  which  the  Communication  is  Made. 
It  is  "spoken."     Demands,  speaker  and  an  audience. 

1.  As  to  the  speaker  :   ( i )   It  is  the  will  of  God  that  truth  shall 

be  communicated  in  this  way  ;   (2)  It  is  also  natural. 

2.  As  to  the  audience  :  ( i )  The  audience  must  be  kept  in  view 

while  the  sermon  is  being  prepared;  (2)  The  audience 
must  be  respected.  The  preacher  who  fails  to  gain  the  at- 
tention of  his  hearers  should  ask  himself :  [a)  Have  I  felt 
the  importance  of  my  vocation  ?  [d)  Have  I  preached  upon 
subjects  of  human  interest  ?  {c)  Have  I  made  suitable  prep- 
aration? (3)  The  audience  should  be  interested  at  once; 
(4)  The  interest  should  be  maintained  to  the  end. 

III.  The  Purpose  of  Preaching.     "With  a  View  to  Per- 
suasion." 

The  principal  kinds  of  pulpit  address  : 

1.  Familiar  discourse.     Two  words   used  for  this  in  the  New 

Testament,  "talked,"  "preached." 

2.  Rhetorical  discourse.     Two  words  used  for  this  in  the  New 

Testament.      Both  translated  "preach.  ' 

3.  Argumentative   discourse.     New  Testament  word   for  this. 

Other  words  employed  for  preaching  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, "teaching,"  "testifying,"  "beseeching." 


I 

WHAT    IS    PREACHING? 

Preaching  is  the  spoken  communication  of  di- 
vine truth  with  a  view  to  4)er suasion.     Accepting 
this    as    a    sufficient    definition,   we 
notice  that  it  covers  the  three  points   ^^  p^      vn 
with  which  we  are  chiefly  concerned 
in  a  sermon,  namely  :  its  matter,  its  manner,  and 
its  purpos^.     As  to  the  patter  of  this  commum- 
cation,  it  is  '^divine  truth/'     This  tells  us  what  to 
preach.     As  to  the  manner  of  this  communication, 
it  is  divine  truth  "  spoken."     This  tells  us  how  to 
preacTiT    As  to  the  purpose  of  this  communication, 
it    IS    divine   truth  spoken  " with  a  view  toper^, 
suasion. '*     This  tells  us  why  we  preaclL 

rr  Turning  first  to  the  matter  of  preaching,_jKe 
say  that  it  must  be  **  divine  truth/'  We  find  here 
the  limit  and  the  extent  of  preaching,  as  well  as 
its  authority. 

I.  What  then  is  the  limit  of  Christian  preach- 
ing ?  Christian  preaching  is  limited  to  the  procla- 
mation^  and_enfoi^ 

Strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  arguing,  still  less  isjt 
sg^eculating  about  truth. 

"^J  Simply  it  Xs_JJbje_jdelii££]Xpf^  message  frqrn 
God  to  'man.     The  two  great  pulpit  orators  of  a 


4  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

hundred  years  ago,  Robert  Hall  and  Thomas 
Chalmers,  discovered  this  only  after  they  had 
struck  other  notes  in  vain.  In  the  early  days  of 
his  ministry  Robert  Hall,  as  he  himself  tells  us, 
imitated  Robert  Robinson,  his  fascinating  prede- 
cessor at  Cambridge.  Chalmers  built  up  splendid 
apologies  for  a  Christian  system  in  which  he  him- 
self only  half  believed.  It  was  when  these  meth- 
ods were  exchanged  for  the  simpler  proclamation 
of  the  truth  of  God  that  alike  Hall  and  Chalmers 
found  their  vocation.  So  of  Mr.  Spurgeon  it  has 
been  said,  "  To  him  Christianity  was  not  an  ar- 
gument, but  a  message ;  not  something  to  be 
discussed,  but  something  to  be  delivered  by  the 
preacher  and  instantaneously  accepted  by  the 
hearer." 

The  preacher  who  does  his  work  under  this  per- 
suasion will  be  saved  from  two  evils.  He  will  get 
rid  of  the  painful  self-consciousness  with  which 
many  speakers  are  afflicted.  He  may  not  rise  in- 
deed to  the  heroic  condition  of  Archbishop  Whately 
who,  when  he  was  asked  whether  he  was  nervous 
on  the  occasion  of  his  first  sermon,  answered,  "I 
dared  not  be.  To  think  of  myself  at  such  a  time 
would  be  in  my  eyes  not  only  a  weakness,  but 
a  sin."  But  he  will  be  likely  to  attain  the  safer 
spirit  which  moved  Adolphe  Monod  to  begin  one 
of  his  sermons  with  the  prayer  :  "  O  my  God,  give 
me  thy  Spirit,  that  so  I  may  lay  down  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross  of  thy  Son  that  searching  of  myself 
and  that  disquietude  which  have  overcome  me  for 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING?  5 

these  three  days,  to  the  detriment  of  my  sermon." 
Convinced  that  he  is  the  messenger  of  God,  he 
will  also  be  delivered  from  a  slavish  and  time-serv- 
ing spirit.  That  no  man  can  serve  two  masters  is 
nowhere  truer  than  it  is  in  the  pulpit.  There  one 
is  our  master,  even  Christ.  "  Out  of  the  pulpit," 
John  Knox  said  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  when  she 
complained  that  never  had  prince  been  handled  as 
she  was  by  him  in  his  sermons,  ''  few  had  occasion 
to  be  offended  with  him  ;  but  there  he  was  not  mas- 
ter of  himself,  but  bound  to  obey  Him  who  com- 
manded him  to  speak  plainly,  and  to  flatter  no  flesh 
on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

(2)  A  further  limitation  is  that  Christian  preach- 
ing concerns  itself  with  religion.  We  may  refuse 
to  put  any  narrow  or  dogmatic  interpretation  upon 
the  term  ''religion";  but  nothing  can  take  the 
place  of  the  thing  itself  in  our  sermons.  It  was 
the  severest  condemnation  which  Louis  XVI.  of 
France  passed  upon  one  of  his  chaplains  when  he 
said,  "This  preacher  would  haveleft  nothing  out 

of  his  sermon  if  he  had  happened  to  touch  upon 

rengion"."**  The  preacher  is  called  to  preach  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  not  to  lecture  on  literature  or 
politics  or  economical  questions.  The  warning 
given  by  Dr.  John  Watson  is  especially  needed  at 
a  time  when  the  temptation  to  forget  this  seems 
to  be  as  plausible  as  it  is  subtle :  *'  When  under 
the  shadow  of  a  great  trouble  or  in  the  throes  of  a 
terrible  temptation,  little  consolation  or  help  will 
be  gained  from  a  discourse  on  drains  or  a  pulpit 


6  THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

review  of  the  latest  popular  book."  **  I  do  not 
go  to  church,"  said  Daniel  Webster,  after  enduring 
the  infliction  of  an  ambitious  but  useless  sermon, 
**  to  learn  history,  but  to  be  reminded  of  duty." 
The  famous  orator  was  of  the  same  mind  as  a 
worshiper  in  Westminster  Abbey,  who  complained 
after  listening  to  a  sermon  from  Dean  Stanley,  ''  I 
went  to  hear  the  way  to  heaven ;  I  was  told  the 
way  to  Palestine." 

(3)  We  mention  another  limitation  when  we  add 
that  our  preaching  should  be  founded  upon  Scrip- 
ture, and  not  upon  its  words  so  much  as  upon  its 
doctrines.  The  old  Puritan  saying,  "  You  cannot 
give  God's  children  too  much  of  their  Father's 
bread,"  expressed  a  truth  to  which  all  the  history 
of  the  church  bears  witness.  The  Protestant 
Reformation,  reviving  the  popular  faith  in  the  su- 
preme authority  of  the  Bible,  insisted  simultane- 
ously upon  the  paramount  necessity  for  making 
the  truth  revealed  therein  the  staple  of  the  mes- 
sage of  the  pulpit. 

(4)  It  follows  that  the  sermon  must  be  in  very 
close  touch  both  with  God  and  man.  As  Tholuck 
said,  a  sermon  ought  to  have  "heaven  for  its 
father  and  earth  for  its  mother."  Looking  at  the 
circumstances  of  our  daily  life  exclusively  in  the 
light  which  springs  from  below,  or  failing  to  bring 
heavenly  realities  down  "to  men's  business  and 
bosoms,"  many  a  sermon  carries  in  itself  the  assur- 
ance of  failure.  The  true  preacher  must  be  "  great 
not  in  wealth  of  eloquence  alone,  or  profundity  of 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING?  J 

learning,  not  in  charm  of  style  only,  or  justness  of 
expression,  but  great  with  the  effective  greatness 
of  power  to  bring  the  infinite  remedy  of  the  pity  of 
God  into  close  contact  with  the  infinitely  varied 
needs  of  man." 

2.  We  are  still  dealing  with  the  matter  of 
preaching  when  we  glance  at  its  extent.  Beware 
of  taking  narrow  views  here.  Preaching  is  the 
communication  of  divine  truth  to  man,  and  just  be- 
cause the  ocean  is  so  vast  and  his  vessel  so  small 
no  sailor  should  attempt  to  compass  his  task  in 
one  voyage.  The  young  preacher,  like  the  young 
traveler,  is  apt  to  attempt  too  much  ;  and  in  both 
cases,  the  result  is  the  same.  A  confused  impres- 
sion of  many  things  referred  to  or  suggested  takes 
the  place  of  one  compact  thought.  The  speaker 
has  been  so  anxious  to  say  everything  that  he  has 
really  said  nothing.  As  Daniel  Webster  com- 
plained of  an  opponent  in  the  court,  he  has 
"hovered  but  not  pitched."  When  the  Spaniards 
would  describe  a  tedious  writer  they  say,  "  He 
leaves  nothing  in  his  inkstand."  So  the  preacher 
often  fails  because  he  leaves  nothing  for  next 
time.  To  begin  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  and  close 
only  in  the  New  Jerusalem  is  the  weakness  of 
many  a  sermon  which  would  achieve  more  if  it  at- 
tempted less.  A  sermon  may  deal  by  implication 
only,  or  only  indirectly,  with  many  of  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity — with  the  fall  of  man,  the  redemp- 
tion of  Christ,  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  for 
example,  and  yet  be  a  sermon. 


8  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

3.  The  authority  for  the  sermon  hes  in  the  fact 
that  the  preacher  is  a  messenger  who  deUvers  to 
his  congregation  the  word  of  God.  ''  That's  the 
man  for  me,"  David  Hume  remarked  when  he 
heard  Ebenezer  Erskine.  "  He  means  what  he 
says ;  he  speaks  as  if  Jesus  Christ  was  at  his 
elbow." 

Because  he  is  charged  with  God's  message  to 
men,  the  preacher  is  concerned  with  positive  truth. 

(i)  The  pulpit  is  no  place  in  which  to  ventilate 
intellectual  doubt.  **  Give  me  the  benefit  of  your 
convictions  if  you  have  any,"  was  the  demand  of 
Goethe,  "  but  keep  your  doubts  to  yourself,  for  I 
have  enough  of  my  own." 

(2)  Nor  should  the  sermon  deal  with  matters 
purely  speculative.  The  dogmatic  tone  is  the 
right  tone  for  a  preacher  so  long  as  he  speaks 
with  the  accent  of  conviction.  His  reason  for 
being  in  the  pulpit  is  that  he  has  the  word  of 
the  Lord  to  deliver  to  his  hearers. 

(3)  Nor,  again,  is  the  sermon  to  be  negative  in  its 
character.  The  sermon  which  is  occupied  chiefly 
with  saying  what  the  text  does  not  mean,  provokes, 
indeed,  but  not  to  love  or  to  good  works.  ''  You 
must  preach  positively,  telling  your  hearer  what  is 
true,  setting  God  before  his  heart,  and  bidding  it 
know  its  Lord."^  By  all  means  study  the  ser- 
mons of  the  New  Testament,  and  especially  those 
in  the  early  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
'*  The  glorious  fact,  '  By  this  man  is  preached  unto 

^  Phillips  Brooks. 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING? 


you  the  forgiveness  of  sins,'  is  the  burden  of  every 


sermon."  ^ 


II.   Recalling    our    definition    of    preaching   as 

*' the  spoken  communication  of  divine  truth,"  we 

come,  next,  to  the  manner  in  which 

this  communication  is  made.      It  is      ^®     anner 

of  Preacning 
**  spoken."       This    distinguishes    it 

from  other  ways  in  which  truth  may  be  communi- 
cated to  men,  such  as  the  ordinances  and  ritual  of 
religion ;  the  arts  of  music  and  painting ;  the 
printed  page ;  or  even  the  simple  force  of  Chris- 
tian example. 

It  demands  two  things,  namely,  a  speaker  and 
an  audience. 

I.  As  to  the  speaker.  That  man  should  be 
reached  by  the  medium  of  human  speech  is  the 
will  of  God.^ 

(i)  This  seems  to  be  conclusively  shown  by  the 
whole  history  of  preaching.  Notwithstanding  the 
assertions  to  the  contrary  which  are  made  by  the 
Romanist  and  the  Ritualist,  we  believe  with  one 
of  the  most  devoted  bishops  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  that  "  this  age  wants  and  is  prepared  to  re- 
ceive not  the  priest,  but  the  prophet."  ^  It  will  be 
well  to  turn  at  this  point  to  the  testimony  of  the 
first  days  of  Christianity.  Nowhere  was  there 
an  appeal  to  sacraments,  or  to  the  scenic  effect  of 
splendid  ceremonials,  or  to  any  set  form  of  serv- 
ice. The  sermon  of  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost gave  to  the  church  the  manner  in  which  the 

^  McCheyne.  ^  Rom,  10:4.  '  Bishop  Fraser. 


lO        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

message  from  heaven  was  to  reach  the  hearts  of 
men.  **  With  many  words  did  he  testify  and  ex- 
hort." ' 

(2)  We  also  remark  that  it  is  most  natural  that 
divine  truth  should  be  communicated  by  speech. 
Men  are  likely  to  be  touched  and  affected  by  their 
fellow-men.  No  doubt  for  this  among  other 
reasons  it  was  that  "the  Word  became  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us."  "Eloquence,"  as  Emerson 
says,  "  is  the  appropriate  organ  of  the  highest  per- 
sonal energy."  Four  things  may  here  be  said  as 
to  the  preacher  himself  :  (a)  He  should  be  thor- 
oughly human.  Luther  tried  to  preach  so  as  to 
suit  the  poor  women,  children,  and  servants. 
Roger  Ascham  said,  "  We  ought  to  think  like  great 
men  and  speak  like  common  peo  le."  As  Chan- 
ning  grew  to  the  pulpit  his  address  constantly 
"became  less  ministerial  and  m(tre  manly."  "  To 
me,"  says  Longfellow,  "a  sermon  is  no  sermon  in 
which  I  cannot  hear  the  heart  beat."  Beecher 
held  that  preaching  was  "  the  application  of  per- 
sonal emotion  and  thought  to  living  people  ;  the 
power  of  one  living  man  to  lay  himself  on  the 
heart  and  intelligence  of  another."  (I?)  The 
preacher  should  be  naturally  qualified  to  speak. 
Training  may  do  much,  but  the  true  preacher  like 
the  true  poet  is  born  before  he  is  made,    (c)  He 

*Acts  2  :  40.  See  also  Acts  8:4,  12  ;  10  :  36 ;  ii  :  19, 
20  ;  15  :  35  ;  20  :  25  ;  28  :  31  ;  Rom.  16  :  25  ;  I  Cor.  I  :  18-21  ; 
I  Cor.  2  :  4 ;  2  Cor.  lo  :  14  ;  Gal.  i  :  23  ;  2  Tim.  4:17;  Titus 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING  ?  I  I 

should  be  morally  and  spiritually  qualified  to  speak 
the  message  of  God  to  man.  Preaching  is  a  di- 
vine ordinance ;  and  beaten  oil  is  called  for  in  the 
service  of  the  sanctuary.  Nothing  else  can  take 
the  place  of  consecrated  character.  Gladstone,  re- 
calling the  far-distant  day  when  he  listened  to 
Chalmers,  says  :  "  I  never  heard  any  one  preach 
who  more  completely  conveyed  his  own  moral 
character  through  the  medium  of  every  sentence 
he  spoke."  {d)  He  should  be  satisfied  to  deliver 
his  message.  Personal  ambition,  self-conscious- 
ness, a  striving  after  display,  should  all  be  excluded 
from  the  pulpit.  Hazlitt  remarks  about  Rem- 
brandt's picture  of  ''  Jacob's  Ladder,"  that  had  the 
painter  thought  once  about  himself  or  anything 
but  the  subject,;'' the  dream  had  fled,  the  spell  had 
been  broken."  The  preacher  must  hide  behind 
his  message,  for  ''  the  most  effective  preaching 
consists  not  only  in  words  about  the  Lord,  but,  in 
a  sense,  of  words  from  the  Lord.  The  most  diffi- 
cult and  important  duty  of  the  preacher's  self- 
discipline  is  self-effacement."  ^ 

2.  As  to  the  audience,  it  seems  to  me  of  the 
first  importance  that  the  preacher  keep  his  congre- 
gation well  in  view  during  the  preparation  of  his 
sermon. 

(i)  It  will  be  wise  in  him  to  remember  Patrick 
Henry's  words  and  apply  them  to  his  own  voca- 
tion. *'  Sir,  it  is  not  books,  it  is  men  that  we  must 
study."     Robert  Hall  held  that  without  being  per- 

*  Joseph  Cook. 


12        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

sonal  a  good  sermon  should  be  composed  so  that 
the  conscience  of  the  audience  should  feel  the 
hand  of  the  preacher  searching  it,  and  every  in- 
dividual know  where  to  class  himself;  and  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  uttered  a  truth  which  any  preacher 
who  is  tempted  to  isolate  himself  in  his  study  must 
lay  to  heart,  when  he  said,  "  I  dedicated  myself 
not  to  be  a  fisher  of  ideas  nor  of  books,  but  a 
fisher  of  men."  At  first  it  will  be  a  difficult  thing 
to  realize  an  audience  which  is  not  present.  But 
by  constant  practice  it  becomes  easy.  Guthrie 
spoke  each  sentence  aloud  before  writing  it  down, 
and  in  that  way  acquired  an  admirable  pulpit 
style.  In  his  hours  of  composition  he  managed  to 
keep  an  audience  always  before  him,  and  ''  realized 
the  influence  of  a  crowd  even  in  the  solitude  of 
his  study." 

(2)  The  audience  must  be  respected.  When  a 
congregation  is  listless,  indifferent,  and  hard  to 
interest,  the  temptation  is  strong  with  the  preacher 
to  lay  the  blame  at  every  door  sooner  than  at  his 
own.  But  he  should  reflect  that  preaching  is  ora- 
tory, and  oratory  is  an  art  which  always  and 
everywhere  delights ;  and  that  preaching  deals 
with  religion,  and  religion  (as  Thomas  Binney  was 
wont  to  say)  is  what  people  care  most  to  hear 
about.  Let  him  rather  look  nearer  home,  and  ask, 
Have  I  felt  the  importance  of  my  vocation  ?  "  It 
is  no  light  thing  to  speak  before  men  in  the  place 
of  God."  *     The  man  who  could  say  with  reason 

»  Luther. 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING?  1 3 

of  his  clergyman,  diligent  everywhere  but  in  his 
parish,  "Our  minister  makes  a  by-job  of  our 
souls,"  passed  the  severest  sentence  to  which  any 
preacher  can  expose  himself.  If  he  has  failed  to 
feel  the  importance  of  his  vocation  he  will  very 
likely  neglect  his  pulpit  preparation  ;  and  in  that 
case  he  may  deserve  the  retort  with  which  an  easy- 
going preacher  was  met  when  he  boasted  one 
morning  at  the  breakfast  table  that  he  had  already 
written  a  sermon  and  killed  a  salmon  :  "  It  may  be 
so ;  but  I  had  rather  eat  your  salmon  than  hear 
your  sermon."  Possibly  he  has  fallen  into  an 
error  at  which  we  have  already  glanced,  and  chosen 
for  his  themes  subjects  of  no  vital  human  inter- 
est. A  book  was  found  not  long  since  in  one  of 
the  rooms  of  Exeter  Cathedral  which  dated  from 
about  1 301,  and  contained,  among  other  things, 
the  complaints  of  attendants  at  public  worship. 
One  vicar  was  criticised  because  his  preaching  was 
"very  poor  and  after  a  fashion  of  his  own"; 
while  of  another  it  was  reported  that  "  he  did  not 
inform  his  hearers  very  much."  The  critics  of  our 
sermons  still  find  only  too  much  reason  for  urging 
these  ancient  objections. 

(3)  Let  me  add  that  the  preacher  should  en- 
deavor to  interest  his  hearers  at  once.  What 
Hooker  says  of  extemporaneous  sermons  is  true  of 
all  sermons,  however  composed  and  delivered ; 
"They  spend  their  lives  at  their  birth."  By  his 
manner  in  the  pulpit,  and  by  the  way  in  which 
he  conducts  the  service  even  before  the  sermon 


14  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

is  reached,  let  the  preacher  come  into  sympa- 
thetic touch  with  his  congregation.  The  space 
granted  to  him  is  short  in  which  ''to  invite  men 
drenched  in  time  to  recover  themselves,  and  come 
out  of  time  and  taste  their  native  immortal  air."^ 
To  quote  a  few  words  from  a  noble  passage  in 
John  Ruskin's  "  Stones  of  Venice,"  the  whole 
of  which  should  be  read  :  "  When  breathless  and 
weary  with  the  week's  labor  they  give  the  preacher 
this  interval  of  imperfect  and  languid  hearing,  he 
has  but  thirty  minutes  to  get  at  the  separate  hearts 
of  a  thousand  men,  to  convince  them  of  all  their 
weaknesses,  to  shame  them  from  all  their  sins,  to 
warn  them  of  all  their  dangers,  to  try,  by  this  way 
and  that,  to  stir  the  hard  fastenings  of  those  doors 
where  the  Master  himself  has  stood  and  knocked, 
yet  none  opened,  and  to  call  at  the  openings  of 
those  dark  streets  where  Wisdom  herself  has 
stretched  forth  her  hands,  and  no  man  regarded. 
Thirty  minutes  to  raise  the  dead  in  !  "  ^  What  the 
preacher  does  must  indeed  be  done  quickly. 

(4)  This  interest  the  preacher  must  aim  to  hold 
to  the  very  close  of  his  discourse.  Let  him  make 
his  sermon  an  articulated  whole ;  let  him  cultivate 
rhetorical  climax ;  let  him  see  to  it  that  his  com- 
position cumulates  in  force  and  closeness  of  appli- 
cation as  it  draws  near  to  its  close ;  and  when  it  is 
finished  let  him  ask  himself  whether  it  has  in  it  a 
message  to  each  part  of  the  entire  nature.     Guth- 

iR.  W.  Emerson,  "Life,"  p.  308. 
2  "The  Stones  of  Venice,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  25. 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING?  I  5 

rie  demanded  in  every  sermon  what  he  called  "■  the 
three  P's,"  Proving,  Painting,  Persuading.  In 
other  words,  let  the  preacher  address  the  reason, 
the  imagination,  and  the  heart.  The  sermon 
which  lacks  in  any  one  of  these  three  is  sure  to 
fail  in  interesting  some  hearers. 

III.  More  briefly  we  may  now  deal  with  the 
purpose  of  preaching.  The  sermon  is  framed 
"with  a  view  to  persuasion." 

I.  The    aim  which    the  preacher    The  Purpose 

^-^ ^E- ^of  Preaching 

sets  before  him  is  the  salvation  and 


upbuilding  of  his  hearers.  We  prefer  to  say  this 
rather  tTiarfto  lay  the  chief  stress  upon  the  obli- 
gation to  believe  under  which  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  indisputably  places  those  who  hear  it. 
The  emphasis  is  on  interest  rather  than  on  duty ; 
the  voice  which  speaks  is  the  voice  of  love  rather 
than  of  law.  "  The  teaching  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles  was  that  God  wanted  all  men  to  be  saved, 
and  made  overtures  to  them."^  This  alone  does 
justice  to  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament,  and  to 
the  happy  phrase,  ''An  instinct  for  souls,"  ^  which 
has  been  offered  as  a  definition  of  the  preacher's 
vocation  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  until  now. 
Let  the  sermon  record  the  achievements  of  this 
instinct.  It  may  even  be  well  that  occasionally 
during  his  ministry  the  preacher  keep  a  record  of 
the  reason  why  every  sermon  is  prepared.  Each 
discourse  will  then  be  the  embodiment  and  ex- 
pression of  a  definite  purpose. 

1  H.  W.  Beecher.  ^  g^  Paxton  Hood. 


l6        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

2.  In  order  to  persuade  men  to  believe,  every 
form  of  discourse  must  be  used.  The  New  Testa- 
ment gives  us  three  distinct  kinds  of  pulpit 
address.  The  first  is  familiar  discourse,  or  what 
we  understand  as  the  homily.  This  is  that  easy 
and  graceful  conversation  to  which  so  few  preach- 
ers attain.  It  does  not  condescend  to  words  of 
low  estate.  It  is  as  free  from  vulgarity  as  it  is 
from  commonplace.  The  perfect  mastery  of  this 
style  marks  the  preacher  who  wields  the  most 
effective  eloquence.  Of  Francis  of  Assisi,  his 
disciple,  Thomas  of  Spalatp,  said,  "  He  had  not  the 
manner  of  a  preacher,  his  ways  were  rather  those 
of  a  conversation  "  ;  and  Butler,  in  "  Hudibras," 
meant  it  as  no  sarcasm  when  he  wrote  of  one  of 
his  characters : 

And  when  with  greatest  art  he  spoke 
You'd  think  he  talked  like  other  folk 

For  this  familiar  kind  of  discourse,  two  words 
are  used  in  the  New  Testament,  translated 
"  talked ';j_and_iipreached''^  Upon  this  first 
word  the  conception  of  the  homily  is  based,  and 
the  preacher  must  keep  it  in  mind  as  best  describ- 
ing what  the  staple  of  his  sermon  work  should  be. 

The  second  kind  of  pulpit  address  is  rhetorical 
discourse,  a  more  formal,  studied,  and  impas- 
sioned declaration  of  God's  will.  This  again  is  rep- 
resented by  two  words,  both  translated  "preach" 
in   our   English  Bible.     The   first,  which  is  used 

1  Acts  20  :  II.  2  Mark  2:2;  John  4  ;  26,  27. 


WHAT    IS    PREACHING?  1 7 

fifty  times,  means  to  announce,  and  is  found,  for 
example,  in  Matt.  1 1  :  5,  "  the  poor  have  the  gos- 
pel preached  to  them"  ;  the  second,  which  is  used 
sixty  times,  carries  the  idea  of  the  proclamation  of 
a  message,  as  in  Mark  i6  :  15,  '* preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature." 

A  third  and  less  frequent  kind  of  pulpit  address 
is  that  which  puts  the  chief  stress  on  the  argu- 
ment; and  is  rendered  in  our  version  either 
"preached"  or  <* reasoned."  With  Felix  Paul 
"reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judg- 
ment to  come,"  ^  and  it  was  under  argumentative 
preaching  that  Eutychus  fell  into  a  deep  sleep, 
which  may  perhaps  account  for  the  fact  that  when 
the  young  man  was  brought  to  life  again  Paul 
"talked"  a  long  while.^  Familiar  discourse  will 
hold  the  attention  when  more  elaborate  argument 
acts  as  an  almost  fatal  soporific. 

Besides  these  words,  the  Bible  indicates  "teach- 
ing," ^  "testifying,"  *  and  "beseeching"  ^  as  other 
forms  of  discourse.  By  no  one  of  all  these  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  others  should  the  preacher 
approach  the  walls  of  Mansoul  and  summon  the 
occupant  to  surrender.  With  the  even  level  of 
familiar  address  let  him  talk  and  teach  ;  in  more 
precise  forms  of  speech  let  him  reason  of  the 
great  truths  of  salvation;  now  and  again,  rising 
into  impassioned  language,  let  him  announce  the 
good  tidings,  let  him  give  rein  to  the  impetuosity 

1  Acts  24  :  25.         2  Acts  20  :  9,  ii.  ^  Matt.  28  :  19. 

*  Acts  2  :  40.  ^  2  Cor.  5  :  20. 

B 


1 8  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

of  his  emotions,  let  him  testify  against  those  who 
harden  their  hearts  before  the  pleadings  of  the 
divine  mercy ;  and  oftener  still,  as  one  who  knows 
the  fear  of  the  Lord,  let  him  persuade  men,  be- 
seeching them  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  reconciled 
to  God.  ''Apostolic  preaching  was  a  combination 
of  all  these  processes,  saturated  with  prayers  and 
tears."  ^ 

1  Dr.  J.  Angus. 


THE  TEXT 


SUMMARY 


I.  Its  Meaning. 

1.  Derivation  of  the  word  "text." 

2.  May  include  more  of  a  passage  than  is  read. 

3.  More    commonly  means    the    special    words    read    by    the 

preacher,  from  which  he  proposes  to  speak,  and  which 
are  often  detached  from  the  context :  (i)  The  theme 
should,  as  a  rule,  cover  the  whole  text ;  (2)  Yet  one  theme 
need  not  necessarily  exhaust  the  text ;  (3)  It  is  well  that 
the  text  should  form  a  complete  rhetorical  sentence. 

II.  The  History  of  the  Text. 

1.  The  Jewish  custom. 

2.  The  practice  of  the  apostles  compared  with  that  of  their  im- 

mediate successors. 

3.  Later  history,  "postulating"  and  "declaring." 

III.  Uses  Served  by  the  Text. 

1.  Disadvantages  :  (i)   The  use  of  a  text  cramps  the  liberty 

of  preaching ;  (2)  Is  not  favorable  to  the  most  intelligent 
treatment  of  Scripture  ;  (3)  Is  artificial. 

2.  Advantages  :  (i)  A  cure  for  desultoriness  ;  (2)  Insures  some 

reference  to  Scripture  ;  (3)  Carries  with  it  a  sense  of  au- 
thority ;  (4)  Is  not  confined  to  preaching. 

IV.  The  Structure  of  the  Text. 

1.  Reverence  demands  that  it  form  a  complete  sentence. 

2.  Yet  "fractional  texts"  may  be  used. 

3.  As  to  the  length  of  the  text. 

4.  The  text  may  be  drawn  from  more   than  one  passage  :  (i) 

Complementary  texts;  (2)  Contrasted  texts;  (3)  Texts 
made  up  of  the  same  words  in  various  connections ;  (4) 
Series  of  sermons  on  contrasted  or  complementary  texts. 


II 

THE   TEXT 

I.  The  meaning  of  the  text. 

1.  To  recall  the  derivation  of  the  familiar  word 
"text"  is  to  recognize  the  bounds  which  it  natu- 
rally sets  to  the  sermon.    Taken  from  ^^   ,, 

\      ,  ,  Its  Meaning 

the  Latm  textus,  it  suggests  some- 
thing woven  into  the  entire  web  of  the  discourse. 
Plainly  it  points  back  to  a  time  when  preaching 
was  altogether  expository,  when  the  sermon  was 
little  more  than  a  running  comment  on  the  scrip- 
ture for  the  day,  which  in  its  turn  formed  the  text. 

2.  The  text  may  still  mean  the  whole  passage 
with  which  the  preacher  proposes  to  deal,  although 
he  may  read  only  a  few  words  taken  from  it. 
Horace  Bushnell's  sermon  on  "  Unconscious  In- 
fluence," is  prefaced  by  the  words  "  Then  went  in 
also  that  other  disciple,"  but  in  its  development 
it  is  based  on  the  entire  narrative  from  which  that 
fragment  is  taken. ^ 

3.  More  commonly  we  understand  by  the  text 
the  special  words  read  by  the  preacher  as  those  on 
which  he  proposes  to  speak,  and  which  he  often 
wholly  detaches  from  the  context.  When  Guthrie 
discourses  on  "The  Messenger,"  and  takes  for  his 

1  John  20  :  3-8. 

21 


22  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

text,  **  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
me  saying,  Son  of  man,"  ^  he  uses  the  context 
scarcely  at  all. 

Since  the  sermon  is  based  on  certain  words 
upon  which  the  preacher  proposes  to  speak,  it  is 
best  that  the  theme  should,  as  a  rule,  cover  the 
whole  text.  A  limited  use  of  the  term  ''text" 
has  anyhow  the  advantage  that  all  the  text  can  be 
pressed  into  the  service  of  the  sermon. 

At  the  same  time  a  single  theme  need  not 
necessarily  exhaust  the  text.  In  one  verse  in 
Ezekiel,  Guthrie  finds  three  themes,  and  from  each 
of  these  he  preaches  a  sermon.^ 

Whenever  possible  let  the  text  as  it  is  an- 
nounced form  a  complete  rhetorical  sentence.  To 
use  a  few  fragmentary  words  is  open  to  many  ob- 
jections, as  we  shall  see ;  and  certainly  not  the 
least  of  them  is  the  offense  to  the  ear,  which  nat- 
urally delights  in  the  balance  and  harmony  of 
sound. 

II.   A  few  words  may  here  be  devoted  to  the 

history  of  the  text. 

^^    „,  ^  I .  The  Jewish  custom  was  to  read 

Its  History 

the  Scriptures,  which  of  themselves 

almost  formed  the  discourse  without  any  added 
comment.  Gradually,  however,  partly  because 
the  language  was  no  longer  that  of  their  daily 
lives,  and  partly  because  there  was  need  to  justify 
the  additions  made  by  the  scribes  to  the  simple 
law,  it  came  to  be  the  fashion  to  indulge  in  ex- 

^Ezek.  36  :  16,  17.  '  Ezek.  36  :  26. 


THE    TEXT  23 

tended  exposition  and  application.  So  Jesus 
preached  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth ;  ^  and  to 
Paul  and  Barnabas  when  worshiping  at  Antioch  in 
Pisidia  came  the  invitation  from  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue  there,  after  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, "  Ye  men  and  brethren,  if  ye  have  any  word 
of  exhortation  for  the  people,  say  on."^ 

2.  The  apostles,  believing  themselves  inspired 
teachers,  often  preached  without  texts ;  and  the 
fact  that  their  successors  did  not  follow  their  ex- 
ample shows  that  for  themselves  they  made  no 
such  claim.  Inspiration  ceased,  and  henceforth 
authority  was  found  in  the  use  of  the  words  of  the 
now  complete  Scriptures. 

3.  Until  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury the  sermon  was  little  more  than  an  expansion 
of  the  text,  itself  often  a  long  passage  or  even  an 
entire  book.  Such  preaching  was  called  "postu- 
lating," and  was  distinguished  from  "declaring," 
a  name  given  to  that  kind  of  discourse  in  which 
the  speaker  said  what  he  desired  to  say  without 
taking  any  text.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the 
habit  of  preaching  from  a  single  verse,  or  a  few 
verses  only,  became  common,  and  very  soon  we 
find  the  elaborate  analysis,  the  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions, which  are  now  so  usual  in  the  sermon. 
They  no  doubt  helped  the  hearer  to  follow  and  re- 
member the  discourse,  yet  they  date  from  the  days 
when  medieval  theologians  reduced  all  thinking  to 
rigid  and  formal  systems. 

1  Luke  4  :  20.  ^  Acts  13  :  15. 


24  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

III.   This  brings  us  to  the  use  served  by  the 

text.     Undoubtedly  it    has   advantages,   although 

^^    ^^  these  are  not  without  the  defects  of 

Its  Use 

their  excellencies. 

I.  Three  disadvantages  we  must  mention. 

(i)  The  first  is  that  a  slavish  adherence  to  a 
text  cramps  the  liberty  of  preaching.  Voltaire 
says  with  reason  that  for  a  preacher  to  speak  at 
length  on  a  brief  quotation,  and  to  make  his  whole 
discourse  bear  upon  that,  "appears  to  be  trifling 
little  worthy  the  dignity  of  the  ministry.  The 
text  becomes  a  kind  of  motto  or  rather  enigma, 
which  the  discourse  develops." 

(2)  A  second  objection  to  the  use  of  the  text  is 
that  it  is  often  fatal  to  the  most  intelligent  treat- 
ment of  Scripture.  Chopping  the  Bible  into  frag- 
ments, the  practice  pursued  from  a  host  of  pul- 
pits through  long  centuries  of  abuse,  leaves  us 
amazed  that  the  book  has  survived  during  centuries 
of  dislocation  and  dismemberment.  The  words  of 
Erasmus  are  needed  still:  "To  get  at  the  real 
meaning  it  is  not  enough  to  take  four  or  five  iso- 
lated words ;  you  must  look  where  they  came 
from,  what  was  said,  by  whom  it  was  said,  to  whom 
it  was  said,  at  what  time,  on  what  occasion,  in 
what  words,  what  preceded,  what  follows."^  Each 
clause  in  this  wise  and  weighty  sentence  should 
sound  the  death-knell  for  a  multitude  of  sermons. 

(3)  A  third  objection  is  that  the  use  of  the  text 
is  artificial.     It  tends  to  make  preaching  monoto- 

1  Seebohm's  "Oxford  Reformers,"  p.  258, 


THE   TEXT  25 

nous,  unnatural,  and  unreal ;  and  the  step  is  a  very 
short  one  from  the  unreal  to  the  uninteresting. 
Indeed,  what  preacher  has  not  at  times  found  him- 
self chafing  against  being  forced  by  custom  to 
maintain  the  unvarying  habit  of  announcing  his 
text  ?  Certainly  if  it  were  our  chief  duty  to  bring 
preaching  to  perfection  as  a  rhetorical  exercise, 
we  should  begin  by  abolishing  the  tyranny  of  the 
text,  which,  like  the  lame  beggar,  demands  tribute 
from  us  every  time  we  attempt  to  enter  the  temple. 

2.  Yet  it  must  be  evident  that  the  advantages 
of  using  a  text  are  many  and  great. 

(i)  For  one  thing,  it  is  a  cure  for  desultoriness, 
and  rescues  the  preacher  from  deserving  the  sneer 
of  Sterne  when  he  says  that  the  excellency  of  a 
certain  text  is  it  will  suit  any  sermon,  and  of  a  cer- 
tain sermon  that  it  will  suit  any  text. 

(2)  Evidently,  also,  it  does  insure  some  refer- 
ence to  Scripture.  The  preacher  starts  well,  how- 
ever he  may  finish.  So  far  he  is  bound  to  be 
true  to  his  ofBce  as  a  messenger;  and  when  he 
can  find  no  text  for  his  sermon  he  does  well  to  ask 
himself  whether  the  sermon  ought  to  be  preached. 
The  "prologues"  or  "preludes"  in  which  some 
preachers  now  indulge,  by  the  very  fact  that  they 
range  themselves  under  no  inspired  texts,  confess 
that  they  have  no  authority  such  as  the  genuine 
sermon  carries  with  it.  We  may  note  in  passing 
that  if  the  sermon  is  to  be  an  expansion  and  ap- 
plication of  a  text  it  seems  to  follow  that  the  text 
must  be  chosen  before  the  sermon  is  composed. 


26  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

The  late  Professor  Jowett,  of  Oxford  University, 
said  that  it  was  his  habit  to  write  the  discourse 
first,  "and  then  choose  a  text  as  a  peg."  We 
need  not  be  surprised  therefore  that  he  should 
hold  forth  in  the  chapel  of  his  college  on  the 
causes  of  failure  in  the  university  from  the  words 
"Much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh. "^ 

(3)  The  use  of  a  text  has  then  the  further  ad- 
vantage that  it  carries  to  the  hearer  a  sense  of 
authority.  Uttering  only  the  brief  but  terrible 
"word  of  the  Lord,"  Elijah  broke  in  upon  Ahab 
in  his  ivory  palace  at  Jezreel;^  with  a  text  from 
Isaiah,  John  the  Baptist  came  preaching  the  gospel 
of  repentance;^  and  it  was  with  words  dear  to 
many  generations  of  believing  hearts  that  Jesus, 
in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth,  led  the  way  to  his 
sublime  announcement,  "  This  day  is  this  Scripture 
fulfilled  in  your  ears."  ^ 

(4)  Nor  is  this  practice  confined  to  the  pulpit. 
The  old  philosophers  detaching  sentences  from  the 
writings  of  their  famous  sages,  used  them  as  texts  ; 
the  orator  who  speaks  to  a  toast  and  the  statesman 
who  previous  to  his  address  in  the  legislature  calls 
for  the  reading  of  certain  resolutions,  both  of  them 
use  texts  ;  the  musician  varying  the  air,  but  at  the 
same  time  preserving  harmony  by  observing  unity, 
finds  in  the  motif  of  his  composition  his  text ;  to 
the  painter  some  familiar  strain  of  song  or  some 
stirring  scene  in  history  furnishes  a  text ;  and  when 
Milton  opens  "  Paradise  Lost "  with  the  words, 

*Eccl.  12  :  12.     '  I  Kings  17:1.     '  Matt.  Z  '-  Z-      *  Luke  4  :  21. 


THE    TEXT  27 

Of  man' s  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe, 

or  when  Tennyson,  in  the  first  lines  of  "  In 
Memoriam,"  holds  it  true  with  another  singer 
that  "  men  may  rise  on  stepping  stones  of  their 
dead  selves  to  higher  things,"  they  only  illustrate 
the  use  of  the  text  by  the  greatest  of  our  poets. 

In  summing  up  this  part  of  our  subject,  let  me 
counsel  that  the  use  of  the  text  be  preserved, 
although  the  habit  should  not  be  regarded  as 
carrying  with  it  any  divine  sanction ;  that  where 
we  deem  it  wise  to  do  so  the  text  may  be  dispensed 
with,  and  a  subject  announced  instead,  such  as 
may  very  likely  demand  the  consideration  of  not 
one  only  but  many  passages  of  Scripture ;  that 
occasionally  the  preacher  does  well  to  place  his 
text  where  it  seems  naturally  to  belong,  and  where 
the  old  German  usage  puts  it,  namely,  after  the 
introduction  of  the  sermon  has  been  given  ;  and, 
above  all,  that  because  he  conforms  to  the  time- 
honored  practice  of  having  a  text,  no  preacher  is 
warranted  in  treating  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  do 
violence  to  the  context.  The  growing  feeling  at 
the  present  time  is  against  that  reckless  indiffer- 
ence to  the  whole  tenor  and  spirit  of  a  passage 
which  permits  the  preacher  to  make  a  ''peg"  of 
his  text  on  which  to  hang  a  sermon.  However 
richly  his  sermon  may  merit  hanging,  it  deserves 
to  go  to  its  own  place  in  some  less  honorable 
way. 


28  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

IV.  We  pass  on  to  consider  the  structure  of 
the  text. 

I.   Not  alone  our  respect  for  rhet- 

Its  Structure        •    -i     .    .-u  4.  r      4.1- 

oric,  but  still  more  our  respect  for  the 

Bible,  demands  that  as  a  rule  the  text  shall  form  a 
complete  sentence.  Verses  of  Scripture  should 
not  be  mutilated  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  a  strik- 
ing or  sensational  text.  There  was  no  excuse  for 
South,  when  having  to  preach  before  the  Merchant 
Tailors'  Company  of  the  city  of  London,  he  an- 
nounced as  his  text,  "A  remnant  shall  be  saved  "  ;^ 
and  still  less  excuse  for  Dean  Hook,  when  preach- 
ing before  the  young  queen  of  England  he  founded 
an  argument  for  submission  to  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity on  the  words,  *'  Hear  the  church."  Whately  was 
justly  indignant  at  this  priestly  trifling.  "  By  quot- 
ing slices  of  texts  you  may  prove  anything.  Why 
should  not  some  one  else  preach  on  the  text  thus, 

*  If  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him '.?" 

2.  And  yet  so  long  as  they  do  no  violence  to 
the  context,  what  are  called  "  fractional  texts  "  are 
often  impressive,  *'  The  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant,"  <' Whose  I  am,"  ''Reconciled  to  God," 
''  Unsearchable  riches,"  illustrate  a  legitimate  use 
of  Scripture  fragments.  The  conflict  between 
faith  and  culture  may  be  discussed  from  the  words, 
"Thy  sons,  O  Zion,  against  thy  sons,  O  Greece  "  ;^ 
and  the  contrast  between  human  and  divine  methods 
of  action  may  be  emphasized  by  the  broken  sen- 
tence, **  Every  man  at  the  beginning  doth  set  forth 

1  Rom.  9  :  27.  2  Zech.  9  :  13. 


THE   TEXT  29 

good  wine,  and  .  .  .  then  that  which  is  worse,  but 
thou "^ 

3.  The  length  of  the  text  must  be  determined  by 
the  theme.  The  main  thing  is  to  do  full  justice  to 
that.  A  short  text  often  arrests  attention,  while 
a  long  text  gives  an  impression  of  fullness  and 
authority.  We  hope  that  the  frivolous  fancy  for 
excessively  short  texts  has  died  out.  *'  And  Bar- 
tholomew," on  which  a  Puritan  preacher  discoursed 
with  much  unction,  may  be  more  fruitful  on  longer 
acquaintance  than  it  promises  to  be  at  first ;  but  a 
score  of  sermons  by  another  preacher  of  the  same 
period  and  school  on  the  interjection  "  Oh,"  must 
frequently  have  provoked  his  hearers  into  using 
the  text  themselves  in  no  very  gracious  spirit ;  and 
the  preacher  who  enlarged  on  the  little  word  "  But," 
when  he  was  a  candidate  for  an  endowed  lecture- 
ship, was  paid  in  his  own  coin  when  the  senior 
trustee  met  him  as  he  left  the  pulpit  with  the 
remark:  ''You  have  given  us  a  most  ingenious 
discourse,  and  we  are  much  obliged  to  you,  dut  we 
hardly  think  you  are  the  man  we  need." 

4.  The  preacher  does  well  occasionally  to  draw 
his  text  from  more  than  one  passage  of  Scripture. 

(i)  Texts  which  corroborate  one  another  are 
often  useful.  The  Second  Commandment,  "  I  the 
Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  in- 
iquity of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,"  may  fairly 
enough  be  coupled  with  the  equally  authoritative 
words  in  Ezekiel,   "The  son   shall  not  bear  the 

^  John  2  :  10. 


30  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

iniquity  of  the  father."  That  "  Our  God  is  a  con- 
suming fire,''  is  the  other  half  of  the  great  truth 
set  forth  in  the  more  famiHar  declaration  of  John, 
"  God  is  love."  A  charge  to  a  young  pastor  was 
founded  not  long  since  on  portions  of  three  verses 
in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 
"A  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  "  (ver.  7),  ''A  minister 
of  the  gospel"  (ver.  23),  and  ''A  minister  of  the 
church"  (ver.  25).  These  are  examples  of  com- 
plementary texts. 

(2)  Contrasted  texts  are  equally  impressive.  Close 
to  one  another  are  the  two  verses  which  picture  the 
Gadarenes  as  beseeching  Jesus  to  depart  from  them 
and  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake  as  gladly 
receiving  him.^  The  futile  yearning  of  David,  **0 
that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove  !  then  would  I  fly 
away  and  be  at  rest,"  is  answered  by  the  invitation 
of  David's  Lord,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."^ 
The  merciful  provision  of  night  here  may  be  set 
over  against  the  merciful  release  from  it  hereafter.^ 
That  "  the  sea  is  his  and  he  made  it,"  does  not 
take  away  from  the  blessedness  of  the  future  home 
' where  there  shall  be  ''no  more  sea."'*  The  supe- 
rior glory  of  the  two  dispensations  may  be  sug- 
gested by  using  for  a  text  the  last  words  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  *'  Lest  I  come  and  smite 
the  earth  with  a  curse,"  and  ''The  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.     Amen." 

1  Luke  8  :  37,  40.  ^  Ps.  55  :  6  ;  Matt,  ii  :  28. 

^  Ps.  104  :  20;  Rev.  21  :  25.         *  Ps.  95  :  5  ;  Rev.  21  :  i. 


THE    TEXT  31 

(3)  While  guarding  himself  against  any  dispo- 
sition to  ingenious  trifling,  the  preacher  may  with 
advantage  find  his  text  in  the  same  words  as  they 
are  used  in  various  connections.  The  '*ifs  "  of  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  John  stand  up  like  the  succes- 
sive peaks  of  a  mountain  range. ^  Mr.  Spurgeon 
preached  a  searching  sermon  on  the  words  "  I 
have  sinned,"  as  they  were  used  by  the  hardened 
sinner  Pharaoh,  the  double-minded  Balaam,  the  in- 
sincere King  Saul,  by  Achan  with  more  remorse 
than  repentance,  by  Judas  in  his  agony  of  despair, 
by  Job  overwhelmed  by  the  righteousness  of  God, 
and  finally  by  the  prodigal  confessing  his  un worthi- 
ness to  his  father.  Matthew  Wilks,  a  quaint 
preacher  of  a  past  generation,  who  often  pushed 
addresses  in  the  pulpit  to  the  verge  of  audacity, 
has  a  good  sermon  on  the  word,  "Afterwards." 
One  more  plague  upon  Pharaoh,  and  afterwards  he 
will  let  you  go  ;  for  Esau  no  place  of  repentance 
afterwards,  when  he  sought  in  vain  the  blessing 
once  rejected ;  the  afflictions  of  to-day  must  be 
looked  at  from  the  point  of  view  of  this  word,  for 
*'  afterwards  they  yield  the  peaceable  fruit  of  right- 
eousness "  ;  divine  guidance  in  the  present,  and 
afterwards  glory  is  the  assurance  for  the  believer ; 
while  to  the  impenitent  there  is  solemn  warning  in 
the  weighty  clause  "after  death  the  judgment." 

(4)  A  good  series  or  succession  of  sermons 
may  be  built  up  on  contrasted  or  complementary 
texts.     "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens  "  ^  may  be 

^John  II  :  9,  12,  21,  40.  =*  Gal.  6  :  2,  5. 


32  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

followed  by  "  For  every  one  shall  bear  his  own 
burden."  *' My  peace  I  give  unto  you"  may  sug- 
gest the  question  ''Is  it  peace?"  and  this  in  its 
turn  the  remonstrance,  "  What  hast  thou  to  do 
with  peace?"'  Finney  preached  the  complete 
gospel  from  three  texts,  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  "  ;  "  How  shall 
we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  "  and 
'«  But  they  made  light  of  it."  ^  It  will  be  well  for 
the  preacher  to  plan  such  series  as  these,  in  which 
without  formally  announcing  his  intention,  he  may 
deal  with  the  various  aspects  of  some  important 
truth. 

^  John  14  :  27  ;  2  Kings  9  :  17  ;  2  Kings  9  :  19. 
=*  John  3  :  16 ;  Heb.  2:3;  Matt.  22  :  5. 


THE  TEXT — Continued 


SUMMARY 


Introductory.  The  relation  of  the  text  to  the  context.  The 
text  need  not  necessarily  call  for  a  discussion  of  the  context.  Yet 
it  must  be  so  used  as  to  do  no  violence  to  the  context. 

I.  The  Subject-Matter  of  the  Text  in  its    Relation  to 

THE  Claims  of  Scripture. 

1.  The  text    must  be    reverently  treated:   (l)   No  excuse  for 

the  deliberate  and  intentional  misuse  of  a  text;  (2)  Un- 
worthy motives  must  not  influence  us  ;  (3)  Care  should 
be  taken  in  the  use  of  accommodated  texts  ;  [a)  Occa- 
sionally permissible  ;    (d)   But  as  a  rule  not. 

2.  The  text  must  be  intelligently  treated.     The  Revised  ver- 

sion to  be  consulted  :  (i)  Beware  ot  spurious  texts;  (2) 
Study,  so  as  not  to  err  through  ignorance  ;  (3)  Do  not 
spiritualize  texts  which  have  no  spiritual  meaning  ;  (4)  Do 
not  use  the  uninspired  utterances  of  Scripture  as  if  they 
were  inspired. 

II.  The  Subject-Matter  of  the  Text  in  its  Relation  to 

THE  Theme  of  the  Discourse. 

1.  The    subject-matter   should,    if  possible,   form    a   complete 

theme. 

2.  The  text  should  be  suitable  to  the  theme  :    (i)  The  charac- 

ter of  the  subject  ought  to  decide  the  selection  of  the  text ; 
(2)  In  the  matter  of  selection  the  preacher  should  be  con- 
scientious ;  (3)  As  a  rule  the  text  naturally  suggests  the 
theme  ;  (4)  The  text  should  clearly  express  the  theme  ; 
(5)  The  text  may  be  so  chosen  as  to  be  afresh  presentation 
of  the  theme. 

COUNSELS. 

1.  Find  less  known  texts  for  the  enforcement  of  familiar  truths. 

2.  Keep  a  notebook  for  texts. 

3.  Occasionally  revise  lists  of  texts  preached  from. 

4.  Frequently  use  the  words  of  the  text  while  preaching. 

5.  Suggestions  as  to  announcing  a  text. 


Ill 

THE    TEXT    (continued) 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider  the  special 
thought  in  the  text,  with  which  the  preacher  pro- 
poses to  deal  in  his  sermon.     This 

is  what  we  understand  by  the  "sub-    TheSubject- 

-^  Matter 

ject-matter.        It   is  plain  that  the 

subject-matter  of  the  preacher's  text  is  related  to 

the  book  from  which  his  text  is  taken,  and  to  the 

theme  of   which  he   treats.      Before  speaking  of 

these  two  points  it  may  be  well  that  we  glance  at 

the  relation  of  the  text  to  the  context. 

I.  As  to  this  we  remark  that  the  limit  of  his 

sermon  and  of  his  subject  will  generally  preclude 

the  preacher  from  discussing  at  any  length  the 

verses  on   either  side   of  his  text.     When   he   is 

preaching  from  a  detached  portion  of  Scripture — 

a   proverb    for    example — to   do  this  is  evidently 

unnecessary  ;  but  even  in  the  case  of    a  context 

such   as  he  finds  in  an  argumentative  text — the 

kind  of  texts  which  abound  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul 

for  instance — it  will  not  be  possible  for  him  to  do 

more  than  Hance  at  it.     The  tourist  who  has  him- 


self photographed  at  Niagara  with  the  falls  as  a_ 
background  mustj££-to-4t4hat  the  grandeur  oi  the 

background  does  not  make  his  own  figure  insig- 

\^ . _ ^^- 


/^ 


36  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

nificant.  Let  the  text  stand  out  prominently ; 
let  it  be  superior,  for  this  occasion  certainly,  to  its 
context,  however  grand  and  impressive  that  may 
be. 

2.  Yet  the  text  must  be  so  used  as  to  do  no 
violence  to  the  context.  The  familiar  verse,  "  Be 
sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out,"  if  it  be  restored 
to  its  connection  will  be  seen  to  deal  not  with 
what  men  do  but  only  with  what  they  fail  to  do. 
If  Gad  and  Reuben,  content  in  their  own  rich 
pasturages,  should  refuse  to  help  the  other  tribes 
of  Israel,  then  let  them  rest  assured  that  their  sin 
of  omission  would  surely  be  punished.^  An  intel- 
ligent study  of  the  context,  to  say  nothing  of  a 
preliminary  study  of  English  grammar,  would 
have  saved  the  Baptist  preacher  from  perverting 
Paul's  words,  ''I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  ye  re- 
member me  in  all  things  and  keep  the  ordinances 
as  I  delivered  them  to  you,"^  by  slicing  a  bit  out 
of  the  verse  and  using  it  as  if  it  were  mandatory, 
"  Keep  the  ordinances  as  I  delivered  them  to  you." 
A  pastor  who  lives  long  enough  with  one  church 
to  preach  his  twentieth  anniversary  sermon  to 
them  is  so  worthy  of  our  honor  that  we  may  par- 
don him  for  taking  a  text  from  Jacob's  complaint 
to  Laban,  ''Thus  have  I  been  twenty  years  in  thy 
house  "  ;  but  even  he  would  scarcely  dare  restore 
these  words  to  their  true  setting,  "  I  served  thee 
fourteen  years  for  thy  two  daughters,  and  six  years 
for  thy  cattle ;  and  thou  hast  changed  my  wages 

^Num.  32  :  23.  2  I  Cor.  II  :  2. 


THE   TEXT  37 

ten  times,"  ^  Not  oftener  than  once  in  twenty- 
years,  and  then  only  under  such  exceptional  cir- 
cumstances, should  Scripture  be  so  wrested. 

I.  We  come  now  to  the  subject-matter  of  the 
text  in  its  relation  to  the  claims  of  Scripture. 

I.  As  to  this  we  remark,  first,  that  the  text 
must  be  reverently  treated. 

(i)  There  is  no  excuse  for  the  deliberate  and 
intentional  misuse  of  a  text.  '*  Dear  George," 
wrote  quaint  John  Berridge  when  he  heard  of  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Whitefield,  '*  has  now  got  his  liberty 
again,"  but  the  fact  that  the  great  field  preacher 
was  not  happy  in  his  domestic  life  does  not  excuse 
his  taking  as  a  text  for  his  wife's  funeral  sermon 
the  words  :  "  For  the  creature  was  made  subject 
to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  reason  of  him  who 
hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope."  ^  Not  even  his 
ingenuity  condones  the  offense  of  the  preacher 
who  drew  from  the  word  ^'  certain,"  in  the  verse 
"  A  certain  man  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho  and  fell  among  thieves,"^  the  four  points 
that  he  was  sober,  punctual,  industrious,  and  mar- 
ried. It  is  hard  to  acquit  the  minister  of  frivolity 
who  preached  to  the  police  from  the  injunction  of 
Paul  to  Timothy,  '*  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man."'* 

(2)  Unworthy  motives  have  sometimes  influ- 
enced the  preacher  in  the  choice  of  his  text.  A 
fierce  partisan,  taking  sides  with  the  enemies  of 
the  king,  celebrated  the  coronation  of  George  IV. 
of  England  by  preaching  from  the  text — which  we 
^  Gen.  31  :  41.     ^  Rom.  8  :  20.     ^  Luke  10  :  30.     ♦  i  Tim.  5  :  22. 


38  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

will  not  give  in  full,  although  he  did — "  Belshaz- 
zar  the  king  made  a  great  feast  to  a  thousand  of 
his  lords,  and  drank  wine  before  the  thousand."^ 
When  pleading  for  the  preservation  of  the  Irish 
Episcopal  Church  as  part  of  the  State  Establish- 
ment, Bishop  Magee  delivered  a  most  eloquent  ser- 
mon on  "  The  Breaking  Net,"  ^  in  which  he  pic- 
tured the  Irish  clergy  as  beckoning  to  their  part- 
ners in  England  to  come  and  help  them  ;  but  he 
carefully  shut  his  eyes  to  the  incongruity  that  the 
stagnant  waters  of  the  Irish  Church  Establish- 
ment contrasted  unfavorably  with  the  great  multi- 
tude of  fishes  which  caused  the  nets  of  Peter  and 
his  companions  to  break,  in  the  miracle  on  the  sea 
of  Galilee. 

(3)  We  should  be  very  careful  as  to  the  use  of 
accommodated  texts.  A  text  is  accommodated 
when  it  is  so  applied  that  the  subject-matter  of  the 
sermon  differs  radically  from  the  subject-matter  of 
the  verse  when  that  verse  is  properly  treated. 
There  is  only  surface  and  incidental  resemblance 
between  the  text  as  it  is  used  by  the  sacred  writer 
and  as  it  is  used  by  the  preacher.^  We  do  not  say 
that  such  texts  are  never  permissible.  The  burn- 
ing of  the  Royal  Exchange,  London,  suggested  to 
Henry  Melvill  the  mourning  of  the  merchants 
made  rich  by  her  over  the  fall  of  Babylon,  when 
"  in  one  hour  so  great  riches  is  come  to  nought  "  ;  * 
and  the  same  preacher  found  a  text  for  his  dis- 

1  Dan.  5  :  I,  2.  '  Luke  5  :  7. 

3 Phelps'  "Theory  of  Preaching,"  p.  114.  *  Rev.  18  :  15-17. 


THE    TEXT  39 

course  on  the  destructive  fire  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  in  Peter's  warning,  "  Seeing  then  that  all 
these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of 
persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation 
and  godliness."^  The  long-suffering  chaplain  who 
ministered  to  the  students  at  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity, England,  did  no  violence  to  the  thought  of 
the  original  passage  when  by  the  text,  "  Keep  thy 
foot  when  thou  goest  into  the  house  of  God,"  ^ 
he  entered  his  protest  against  the  prevalent  vice 
of  foot-scraping ;  and  a  proposal  to  disturb  the 
body  of  Shakespeare  was  fairly  enough  reproved 
by  the  preacher  who  chose  for  a  text  the  words, 
"Let  no  man  move  his  bones."  ^  These  are 
examples  of  accommodated  texts  in  which  while, 
on  the  one  hand,  no  direct  reference  is  made  to 
the  circumstances  which  first  inspired  them,  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  affront  passed  upon 
them.  Was  not  the  preacher  before  the  Eton 
schoolboys  happy  in  his  selection  when  he  an- 
nounced for  his  text  on  the  anniversary  of  Queen 
Victoria's  succession,  the  one  word  *'  Shout,"  and 
still  more  so  another  preacher  to  boys  when  he  ad- 
dressed the  quaintly  clad  bluecoat  boys  at  Christ's 
Hospital  School,  London,  from  the  "little  coat 
which  Hannah  made  for  Samuel  "  ?  *  And  how 
much  pertinence  must  have  been  added  to  Horace 
Bushnell's  sermon  at  the  time  when  the  doctrine 
of  repudiation  was  unhappily  popular,  by  his  selec- 

1  2  Peter  3:11.  ^  Eccl.  5:1.  ^2  Kings  23  :  18. 

*  I  Sam.  2  :  19. 


40 


THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 


tion  of  the  word,  ''  Alas,  master,  for  it  is  bor- 
rowed !  "  as  the  motive  for  his  indignant  plea  for 
national  honesty.^ 

These,  however,  are  exceptions.  It  is  better  as 
a  rule  to  refrain  from  the  use  of  accommodated 
texts.  They  dishonor  Scripture,  and  encourage 
the  general  belief,  which  preachers  in  all  the  cen- 
turies of  Christian  history  have  done  too  much  to 
confirm,  that  we  can  treat  the  Bible  as  we  treat 
no  other  book.  The  mediaeval  preachers  were  no- 
torious offenders  in  this  matter,  but  they  are 
not  alone.  When  Pitt,  the  youngest  of  British 
prime  ministers,  came  to  Oxford  with  several 
church  appointments  in  his  gift,  and  found  there 
far  more  applicants  than  there  were  offices,  a 
sermon  was  preached  before  him  from  the  text, 
''  There  is  a  lad  here  which  hath  five  barley  loaves 
and  two  small  fishes,  but  what  are  they  among  so 
many  }  "  ^  To  preach  to  journalists  on  the  words, 
''  They  could  not  come  nigh  unto  him  for  the 
press,"  ^  is  of  course  unpardonable  punning ;  but 
scarcely  less  objectionable  was  the  text  chosen  on 
a  similar  occasion  by  a  dignitary  in  an  English 
cathedral,  "  And  he  charged  them  that  they  should 
tell  no  man,  but  the  more  he  charged  them  so 
much  the  more  a  great  deal  they  published  it."  ^ 
The  preacher  who  in  the  words,  "  The  voice  of  the 
turtle  is  heard  in  the  land,"  ^  found  the  doctrine  of 
immersion,  probably  erred  by  reason  of  his  igno- 


^2  Kings  6  :  5. 


2  John  6:9.     '  Mark  2  :  4. 
^  Song  of  Songs  2  :  12, 


♦  Mark  7  :  36. 


THE   TEXT  41 

ranee,  which  led  to  his  getting  hold  of  the  wrong 
turtle ;  but  no  excuse  can  be  urged  for  him  who 
exhorted  a  newly  married  couple  from  the  words 
of  the  psalmist,  "  And  abundance  of  peace  so  long 
as  the  moon  endureth."  ^ 

2.  Such  perversions  of  Scripture  suggest  that 
the  text  must  be  intelligently,  as  well  as  reverently 
treated.  Never  fail  to  consult  the  Revised  ver- 
sion, and  between  it  and  the  older  version  choose 
the  one  which  seems  to  come  nearest  to  the  origi- 
nal. Had  the  preacher  to  whom  reference  has  al- 
ready been  made  done  this^  he  would  have  discov- 
ered that  the  text  from  which  he  drew  an  impera- 
tive command  to  keep  the  ordinances  read,  "  I 
praise  you  that  ye  .  .  .  hold  fast  the  traditions 
even  as  I  delivered  them  to  you."^  The  Revised 
version  has  no  doubt  taken  away  some  favorite 
texts  from  the  preacher's  storehouse,  but  if  those 
texts  ought  never  have  been  there  we  have  no 
cause  for  complaint. 

(i)  Beware  of  spurious  texts,  such  as  may  have 
crept  into  early  manuscripts  of  the  Bible,  but 
really  form  no  part  of  the  original  word.  **  Wait- 
ing for  the  moving  of  the  water";''  "And  Philip 
said.  If  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou 
mayest " ;  ^  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do  .?  "  ^  are  now  found  to  be  spurious.  Either  avoid 
using  them  altogether,  or  preface  your  announce- 
ment of  the  text  with  an  explanation. 

1  Ps.  72  :  7.        2 Page  36.         3 1  Cor.  ii  :  2.         *John  5  :  3. 
*Acts  8  :  37.  «Acts  9  :  6. 


42 


THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 


(2)  It  might  be  hoped  that  the  days  of  our  igno- 
rance as  to  the  meaning  of  texts  were  passed,  but 
ignorance  dies  hard,  and  especially  with  the 
preacher  who  prefers  darkness  to  light,  and  does 
not  study.  A  fervent  evangelist  in  the  early  years 
of  this  century  preaching  from  the  words,  ''Write, 
blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,"  ^  being 
himself  able  neither  to  read  nor  write,  announced 
that  he  would  *'  first  consider  who  are  right  blessed, 
and  secondly  who  are  wrong  blessed  "  ;  and  one  of 
the  same  simple  class  had  a  sermon  on  Peter's  ex- 
hortation at  Pentecost,  "  Save  yourselves  from  this 
untoward  generation,"  ^  in  which  with  a  fine  disre- 
gard both  of  pronunciation  and  exegesis  he  sounded 
the  word  as  though  it  were  spelt  '•  untowered," 
and  explained  that  the  ancient  cities  had  walls  and 
towers,  that  without  them  they  were  at  the  mercy 
of  the  enemy,  and  that  what  Peter  intended  was 
to  urge  on  his  hearers  the  duty  of  avoiding  a  gen- 
eration which  had  not  fled  to  the  strong  city  of 
salvation.  Andrew  Fuller  did  well  to  retort  on 
the  conceited  young  preacher  who  told  him  he 
was  about  to  preach  on  Christ  as  the  "  one  thing 
needful."  ^  "  Why  then  you  are  worse  than  the 
Socinians.  They  do  allow  him  to  be  a  man  ;  but 
you  are  going  to  reduce  him  to  a  mere  thing." 

(3)  To  this  warning  against  an  ignorant  use  of 
Scripture,  we  add,  therefore.  Do  not  spiritualize 
texts  which  really  have  no  spiritual  significance. 
This  was  the  weakness  of  Origen  and  his  school, 

1  Rev.  14  :  13.         ^  Acts  2  :  40.         '  Luke  10  :  42. 


THE   TEXT  43 

and  since  his  time  it  has  not  ceased  to  enervate 
the  pulpit.  ''  The  fowls  of  the  air  which  neither 
reap  nor  gather  into  barns,"  said  Hilary,  ''are  the 
devils,  and  the  lilies  of  the  field  which  spin  not 
are  the  angels."  William  Huntingdon,  the  hyper- 
Calvinist,  expounding  Isa.  1 1  :  8,  "  The  sucking 
child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the 
weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  cockatrice' 
den,"  found  in  this  passage  his  favorite  doctrine. 
''  The  sucking  child,"  said  he,  ''  is  the  babe  in 
grace,  the  asp  is  the  Arminian,  and  the  hole  of  the 
asp  is  the  Arminian's  mouth."  This  conclusive 
method  of  silencing  his  opponents  may  have  suf- 
ficed for  Huntingdon's  congregation,  but  it  would 
suffice  nowhere  now.  The  father  of  Robert  Hall, 
an  excellent  man  and  often  a  careful  expositor, 
saw  depths  of  spiritual  meaning  in  the  fact  that  the 
candlestick  for  the  tabernacle  was  made  of  pure 
gold ;  ^  and  a  popular  preacher  of  our  own  day 
read  the  whole  scheme  of  redemption  into  the  di- 
rection that  the  same  precious  metal  should  be  used 
in  making  the  snuffers.^  This  delusive  spirit  of 
exposition  goeth  not  forth  save  by  prayer  and  fast- 
ing. Let  the  preacher  abstain  from  his  own  fan- 
cies and  give  himself  instead  to  a  devout  study  of 
the  text.  Thus  will  he  learn  what  is  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit . 

(4)  As  one  more  caution  let  us  say.  Do  not  use 
as  inspired  texts  the  uninspired  utterances  to  be 
found  in  Scripture.     The  record  itself  may  be  in- 

^Exod.  37  :  17.  '^  Ibid.,  23. 


44  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

spired  when  what  is  recorded  is  not.  A  Univer- 
salist  preacher  founded  an  argument  against  future 
punishment  on  the  words  of  the  tempter  to  Eve, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  surely  die  "  ;  ^  and  a  famous  lawyer 
in  Boston  once  affirmed  in  court  that  we  have  "  the 
highest  authority  for  saying,  '  Skin  for  skin,  all 
that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life, '  "  ^  a 
blunder  which  justified  the  papers  of  the  following 
morning  in  their  comment,  "  Now  we  know  who  it 
is  that  the  honorable  gentleman  regards  as  his 
highest  authority." 

Passages  such  as  these — and  there  are  many  of 
them  in  the  Bible — may  of  course  be  employed  in 
the  pulpit,  but  not  as  though  they  carried  with 
them  any  divine  sanction. 

II.  Consider  next  the  subject-matter  of  the  text 
in  its  relation  to  the  theme  of  the  discourse. 

1.  Whenever  possible  let  the  subject-matter  of 
the  text  which  the  preacher  proposes  to  use  form 
a  complete  theme.  Do  not  take  half  a  text  when 
it  contains  only  half  a  truth.  The  apostle's  in- 
junction, ''Work  out  your  own  salvation,"  cannot 
be  separated  from  the  words  by  which  he  explained 
it,  "for  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to 
will  and  do  of  his  good  pleasure."^ 

2.  Further,  the  text  must  be  suitable  to  the 
theme. 

1  Gen.  3  :  4. 

■^  Job  2  :  4.     See  also  2  Kings  18  :  28-35  ;  Job  1:9;  Acts  5  : 

35-39- 

^Phil.  2  :  12,  13.     See  also  Rev.  3  :  19. 


THE   TEXT  45 

(i)  The  character  of  the  subject  ought  to  de- 
cide the  selection  of  the  text.  A  doctrinal  theme 
is  made  more  impressive  by  a  text  taken  from  a 
doctrinal  book.  The  book  of  Proverbs  may  be 
used  to  furnish  a  text  for  a  sermon  on  the  atone- 
ment, but  it  is  better  to  choose  one  from  the  Epis- 
tles. An  evangelist  closing  a  series  of  meetings 
with  a  sermon  from  the  solemn  words,  "  It  is  fin- 
ished,"  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge  of  irrever- 
ence. To  find  a  text  for  a  sermon  on  the  news- 
paper may  be  no  easy  matter,  but  that  does  not 
justify  the  preacher  who  selected,  '*  How  beautiful 
upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that 
bringeth  good  tidings."  ^  Professor  Jowett  when 
discoursing,  as  he  often  did,  on  "Conversation" 
from  "Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth,"  was 
wont  to  justify  himself  by  telling  his  hearers  that 
the  concluding  words  ("of  God")  were  "an  un- 
necessary addition  of  some  of  the  manuscripts." 

(2)  In  this  matter  of  the  selection  of  a  text  the 
preacher  should  do  his  utmost  to  be  conscientious. 
Let  him  lay  down  the  rule  that  he  has  no  right  to 
take  a  text  unless  he  means  to  use  it.  So  ob- 
viously should  his  text  contain  his  theme,  that  in 
explaining  and  enforcing  his  subject  the  very 
words  with  which  he  prefaces  his  discourse  should 
occur  to  the  minds  of  his  hearers.  Cowper  might 
still  find  cause  to  complain  of  the  unscrupulous 
abuse  of  texts  in  this  matter  of  selection  : 

*  Isa.  52  :  7. 


46  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

How  oft  when  Paul  has  served  us  with  a  text, 
Has  Epictetus,  Plato,  Tully,  preached. 

(3)  As  a  rule  the  text  naturally  suggests  the 
theme  which  is  fairly  to  be  found  in  it,  and  in  any 
case  the  text  should  not  need  to  be  flung  on  the 
rack  and  tortured  before  the  theme  can  be  extorted 
from  it.  Perhaps  the  preacher  who  chose  for  his 
text  when  preaching  on  "skeptical  questioning  in 
religion"  a  fragment  from  Paul,-^^But  some  man 

will  say,   'How .-^ '  "  ^  did    no  injustice  to  the 

apostle's  argument ;  but  as  much  cannot  be  urged 
in  defense  of  the  Massachusetts  minister  who  at- 
tacked his  rebellious  choir  with  the  text,  "It  is 
hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks,"^  or  the 
Scottish  divine  who  invited  the  cyclists  to  listen  to 
his  eulogy  of  the  wheel  which  he  based  on  the 
words,  "  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness  and 
all  her  paths  are  peace."  ^  This  was  plainly  a  case 
in  which  wisdom  was  not  justified  of  her  children. 
It  was  a  caustic  critic  of  the  same  nationality  who 
curtly  disposed  of  a  sermon  preached  in  his  hear- 
ing by  a  young  minister  from  the  text,  "The  angel 
did  wondrously,  and  Manoah  and  his  wife  looked 
on,"^  by  saying,  "The  sermon  was  not  unlike  the 
text ;  the  lad  did  wondrously,  and  the  text  looked 
on."  "  The  man,"  the  same  critic  observed  on  an- 
other occasion,  "  might  have  said  to  his  text  at  the 
beginning  what  he  said  to  the  folks  at  the  end, 
♦We'll  maybe  meet  again  and  maybe  no.'" 

*  I  Cor.  15  :  35.      ■''Acts  9  :  5.      ^  Prov.  3  :  17.      *Judg.  13  :  19. 


THE    TEXT  4; 

(4)  Moreover  the  text  should  clearly  express  the 
theme.     Avoid  using  a  text  which  needs  an  ex 

tended  introduction  in  order  to  make  it  suggest  the        i^ y 

theme  on  which  you  mean  to  preach.  Robert 
Robinson  preaching  from  the  words,  *'  Skin  for 
skin,  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his 
life,"  ^  and  interpreting  it  after  his  own  original 
fashion  to  mean  that  in  a  time  of  famine  the  mer- 
chants in  skins  would  sacrifice  all  the  product  of 
their  hunting  for  wheat  which  alone  could  save 
them  from  starvation,  was  naturally  obliged  to 
begin  his  discourse  with  a  long  explanation  before 
he  was  ready  to  say,  "The  proverb  then  means 
that  we  should  save  our  lives  at  any  price.  Let  us 
apply  it  to  ourselves." 

It  seems  evident  that  when  intelligently  and  con- 
scientiously chosen,  the  text  must  powerfully  influ- 
ence the  treatment  of  the  theme.^  This  you  are 
wise  to  remember  in  selecting  your  text.  Indeed, 
are  there  not  texts  which  may  be  said  to  endanger 
the  sermon  t  Either  they  are  hard  to  preach  from, 
because  they  raise  expectations  which  the  preacher 
is  unable  to  satisfy ;  or  else,  by  themselves  epito- 
mizing emotions,  they  express  in  one  brief  sentence 
what  the  preacher  struggles  in  vain  to  amplify.  A 
text  so  sublime  as  "  Glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in 
praises,  doing  wonders,"  ^  may  leave  the  eloquence 
of  the  rhetorician  panting  far  behind  ;  and  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher  tells  us  that  the  words  which  de- 

^  Job  2:4.  *  Phelps'  "Theory,"  etc.,  pp.  no,  III. 

2  Exod.  15  :  II. 


/ 


48  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

scribe  the  tears  the  penitent  woman  shed  upon  the 
feet  of  Jesus  '  were  so  much  more  forcible  than 
anything  which  he  could  say  about  them  that  only 
by  simply  telling  the  story  was  he  able  to  treat 
them  at  all.  Then  the  verse  *'  melted  the  whole 
congregation  and  me  too." 

(5)  It  will  be  well  if  the  text  is  so  chosen  as  to 
be  in  itself  a  fresh  presentation  of  the  theme. 
**  A  novel  text  is  a  new  voice."  A  great  national 
loss  was  fitly  commemorated  by  a  sermon  from 
the  words  of  Jonathan  to  David,  "  Thou  shalt  be 
missed,  because  thy  seat  will  be  empty."  ^  Spur- 
geon  used  as  a  text  for  "  The  Return  of  the  Back- 
slider" the  unusual  motto,  "  Howbeit  the  hair  of 
his  head  began  to  grow  again  "  ;  ^  and  Dr.  Joseph 
Parker  coming  once  more  to  his  pulpit  after  a  va- 
cation found  a  text  for  his  experience  in  the  brief 
sentence,  "  I  am  returned  .  .   .  with  mercies."  ^ 

With  five  counsels  we  may  conclude  what  has 
to  be  said  on  this  subject. 

1 .  Try  and  find  less  known  and  less  used  texts 
for  the  enforcement  of  familiar  truths.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  final  command  may  be  impressively 
preached  from  the  words,  '*  That  which  is  wanting 
cannot  be  numbered  "  ;^  and  the  doctrine  of  future 
punishment  must  be  involved  in  the  startling 
declaration  of  Jesus,  "  Good  were  it  for  that  man 
if  he  had  never  been  born."  ^ 

2.  Keep  a  notebook   in  which  to  write  down 

^  Luke  7  :  38.  ^  l  Sam.  20  :  18.  '  Judg.  l6  :  22. 

*Zech.  I  :  16.  ^  Eccl.  I  :  15.  ^^  Mark  14  :  21. 


THE    TEXT  49 

texts  as  they  occur  to  you.  In  this  way,  as  Dr. 
Ker  puts  it,  you  will  be  "  prepared  against  the  time 
of  famine  and  dearth,  and  against  the  day  of  battle 
and  war,  when  you  are  engaged  with  other  thmgs." 
Preserve  in  a  few  words,  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  your  finding  the  text — the  book,  in- 
cident, or  illustration  suggesting  it. 

3.  Now  and  then  revise  your  list  of  texts  from 
which  you  have  preached.  Dr.  John  Duncan 
thinks  that  the  reason  why  the  religion  of  Matthew 
Henry  was  so  exceeding  broad  was  that  "  he  cast 
himself  with  equal  reverence  on  the  whole  of  the 
Bible,  and  had  no  favorite  texts."  Every  preacher 
is  apt  to  err  by  neglecting  doctrines  that  need  to 
be  preached,  characters  that  ought  to  be  studied, 
and  often  whole  books  in  the  Bible  that  deserve  to 
be  expounded.  Our  preaching  is  often  one-sided  ; 
sometimes,  one  fears,  it  is  not  even  so  much  as  that. 
"  Doctrine,  precept,  history,  type,  psalm,  proverb, 
experience,  warning,  promise,  invitation,  threaten- 
ing or  rebuke — we  should  include  the  whole  of  i 
inspired  truth  within  the  circle  of  our  teachings."  ^  i 

4.  During  the  delivery  of  the  sermon  frequently  ■ 
use  the  words  of  the  text.  Henry  Melvill,  the 
golden-mouthed  preacher,  was  wont  to  work  up  his 
sentences  to  an  argumentative  climax,  and  then 
bring  out  his  text  so  as  to  show  that  he  had  it  on 
his  side.  We  counsel  that  in  clinching  an  argu- 
ment, in  rounding  a  period,  in  capping  a  climax, 
and  above  all  in  closing  the  sermon,  weight  and 

^  C.  H.  Spurgeon. 
D 


50        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

authority  will    be  given  by  the  use  of  the  very 
words  of  your  text. 

5.  As  to  announcing  the  text,  we  advise  that 
you  preface  the  words  by  as  brief  a  form  as  pos- 
sible. Do  not  hold  your  hearers  in  needless  sus- 
pense. Yet  at  the  same  time  by  a  quiet  deliberate- 
ness  of  tone  and  manner  you  may  give  the  im- 
pression that  what  you  have  to  say  is  of  great 
moment.  Avoid  abruptness  and  haste.  Always 
tell  your  congregation  where  the  text  is  to  be 
found  first ;  announce  it  in  logical  order — book, 
chapter,  verse  ;  and  encourage  the  general  use  of 
the  Bible  in  the  pews.  Be  careful  as  to  the  em- 
phasis, try  to  read  the  text  so  that  it  may  be  in 
itself  a  sermon.  Emphasis  is  exposition.  Who 
knows  but  that  it  may  be  all  of  the  sermon  some 
hearer  will  retain  in  his  memory  ?  Read  the  text, 
therefore,  so  as  to  stimulate  interest  and  even  to 
rouse  curiosity.  As  a  rule  read  it  once  only.  The 
congregation  soon  knows  how  far  the  preacher  will 
encourage  listlessness.  Let  the  whole  sermon, 
from  the  text  to  the  conclusion,  be  like  fine  music, 
to  which  an  audience  listens  in  the  complete  pos- 
session of  all  its  powers  of  attention. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  TEXT 


SUMMARY 


PRELIMINARY   NOTES. 

How  sermons  may  be  divided.     Three  classes. 

I.  Topical.      2.   Textual.     3.   Expository. 
Which  method  to  adopt  in  any  one  instance  must  be  decided  by 

(i)  The    text   itself;    (2)  The  theme;    (3)    The   occasion; 

(4)  The  preacher's  mental  constitution. 

THE  TOPICAL  SERMON. 

I.  Definition. 

1.  The  origin  of  topical  sermons. 

2.  The  distinction  between  the  topical  and  the  textual  sermon. 

II.  Advantages  of  the  Topical  Method. 

1.  Rhetorical  perfection. 

2.  Allows  of  a  thorough  examination  of  the  theme. 

3.  Trains  the  mind  to  breadth  of  view. 

III.  Defects  of  the  Topical  Method. 

1.  Tends  to  a  neglect  of  the  word  of  God. 

2.  Has  not  been  so  useful  as  textual  preaching. 

3.  Is  in  danger  of  becoming  monotonous. 

IV.  How  TO  Treat  a  Sermon  Topically. 

1.  Its  style  rhetorical. 

2.  Its  arrangement  decided  by  the  subject  with  which  it  deals. 

( I )  Progressive  when  the  theme  is  argumentative  or  his- 
torical ;  ( 2 )  Exhaustive  if  one  distinct  thought  is  to  be 
elaborated. 


IV 

THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT 

We  proceed  now  to  inquire  how  a  text  may  best 
be  treated.  The  answer  to  this  will  furnish  us 
with  a  convenient  classification  for 

our  sermons.      If  the  text  has  been        ^    opica 

Sermon 
chosen  honestly,  and  not  at  the  bid- 
ding of  caprice  or  in  neglect  of  that  reverence 
with  which  we  should  handle  the  word  of  God,  it 
will  naturally  suggest  the  theme  of  our  discourse. 
Sermons,  therefore,  may  conveniently  be  classified 
according  to  the  precise  way  in  which  the  text  is 
treated,  and  the  precise  subject  which  the  preacher 
proposes  to  discuss.  Such  an  arrangement  places 
the  sermon  under  one  of  three  classes.  These 
are :  the  topical  sermon,  in  which  the  theme  is 
especially  prominent ;  the  textual  sermon,  in  which 
more  regard  is  paid  to  the  words  of  the  text ;  and 
the  expository  sermon,  in  which,  as  a  rule,  a  longer 
portion  of  the  Bible  j_s  taken  as  the  basis  for  th^ 
discourse. 

Before  we  proceed  to  consider  these  three  classes 
more  in  detail,  we  may  remark  that  which  method 
of  treatment  is  adopted  by  the  preacher  in  the 
case  of  any  special  text  will  probably  be  decided 
by  the  text  itself,  by  the  theme  of  the  sermon,  by 

53 


54  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

its  occasion,  and  by  the  preacher's  mental  consti- 
tution. 

1.  Some  texts  can  only  be  treated  topically, 
while  others  naturally  cleave  asunder  at  Ihe  touch 
of  verbal  analysis,  and  others  again  admit  almost 
as  well  one  method  of  treatment  as  another.  A 
proverb  furnishes  a  topic  rather  than  a  text ;  such 
a  verse  as,  "  Looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  ap- 
pearing of  the  glory  of  our  great  God  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,"  ^  may  best  be  analyzed  word  for 
word ;  while  the  solemn  unanswered  question, 
"  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  sal- 
vation .?  "  ^  is  equally  adapted  to  either  the  textual 
or  topical  treatment. 

2.  The  theme  of  the  discourse  must  also  be 
considered.  A  grand  and  exalted  theme  demands 
corresponding  handling.  "  Men  that  usually  talk 
of  a  noun  and  a  verb  "  must  abandon  either  their 
text  or  their  method  here.  Such  a  sentence  as, 
"  Great  and  marvelous  are  thy  works,  Lord  God 
Almighty,"  ^  had  better  be  considered  topically. 
But  the  one  thing  to  guard  against  is  uniformity  of 
treatment.  Variety  is  the  spice  of  sermons  as 
well  as  of  life. 

3.  It  is  evident  also  that  the  occasion  on  which 
the  sermon  is  preached  may  have  much  to  do  with 
the  way  in  which  the  text  is  used.  While  careful 
verbal  analysis  may  best  serve  our  purpose  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  our  ministry,  there  will  come 
special  times  when  a  topical  treatment  is  to  be  pre- 

^  Titus  2  :  13,  R.  V.  =*  Heb.  2:3.  '  Rev.  15  :  3. 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  55 

ferred.  The  missionary  sermon,  the  sermon  at  an 
ordination,  and  the  sermon  for  great  national  ob- 
servances, such  as  Thanksgiving  Day,  are  Ukely 
to  be  of  this  order.^ 

Nor  need  the  preacher  be  altogether  indifferent 
to  his  own  mental  constitution.  Personal  prefer- 
ence is  by  no  means  a  prime  consideration,  but 
neither  is  it  to  be  entirely  set  aside.  It  is  likely 
that  the  mind  which  is  naturally  analytical  will  be 
most  at  home  in  the  textual  method,  and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  rhetorician  will  almost  instinctively 
prefer  the  broader  generalizations  of  the  topical 
treatment. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  topical  sermon. 

I.  A  topical  sermon  we  define  as  one  which  is 
founded  on  the  theme  or  topic  of  the  text  rather 
than  on  the  words  of  the  text. 

I.  Here  let  us  make  two  observations.  The 
first  concerns  the  origin  of  topical  preaching.  As 
we  have  already  seen,  the  apostles  often  preached 
without  texts,  in  this  differing  from  their  immedi- 
ate successors,  who  having  no  sense  of  direct 
personal  inspiration  found  in  the  words  of  the 
Scriptures  their  chief  source  of  authority.  Gradu- 
ally, however,  the  text  became  corrupt,  and  so  its 
power  as  a  court  of  final  appeal  diminished.  The 
mischievous  fashion  for  allegorizing  made  it  seem 
unnatural,  and,  in  consequence  of  being  often  torn 
from  its  context  and  misapplied,  it  forfeited  that 
sense  of  reality  which  should  have  been  one  main 

^  See  R.  W.  Dale's  "Sermons  on  Special  Occasions." 


56  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

source  of  its  strength.  So  the  use  of  a  text  fell 
into  not  undeserved  contempt.  Often  Chrysostom 
and  Augustine  and  others  of  the  Fathers,  took  no 
text.  In  course  of  time  the  best  preaching  came 
to  be  either  expository  or  topical,  and  in  either 
case  it  was  independent  of  a  single  text.  Here, 
then,  is  one  valuable  purpose  served  by  the  topical 
method  of  preaching.  It  is  a  wholesome  protest 
against  mere  verbal  quibbling,  and  against  the  un- 
scholarly  and  often  superstitious  use  of  words. 

2.  Our  second  observation  deals  with  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  topical  and  the  textual 
sermon.  Both  have  this  much  in  common,  that 
they  are  founded  on  some  truth  of  Scripture.  But 
they  differ  in  that  the  topical  sermon  formulates 
the  truth  in  the  words  of  the  preacher,  the  textual 
rather  in  the  words  of  the  Bible.  The  question 
whether  or  not  the  choice  of  the  theme  precedes 
the  choice  of  the  text,  is  probably  answered  here. 
As  a  rule,  in  the  topical  sermon,  the  theme  is  first 
selected  and  then  search  is  made  for  a  text  to  fit  to 
it,  as  the  trunk  is  packed  before  the  direction  is 
written  ;  while  in  the  textual  sermon  the  theme  is 
evolved  from  a  careful  analysis  of  the  text,  al- 
though the  preacher  has  already  a  tolerably  clear 
idea  of  what  his  theme  will  be. 

II.  What  are  the  advantages  of  the  topical 
method  of  discussing  a  theme  ? 

I.  The  first  advantage  is  rhetorical  perfection. 
Thus  treated  the  sermon  approaches  nearest  to  a 
complete  rhetorical  effort.      If  the  aim  of  preach- 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  5/ 

ing  be  to  make  the  sermon  a  work  of  art,  then  let 
the  theme  be  discussed  on  the  topical  basis.  In 
the  history  of  preaching  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
rhetorician  has  often  conquered  the  conscience  of 
the  messenger,  and  what  are  called  "  great  ser- 
mons "  are  the  fruit  of  that  perilous  victory. 
South  and  Bourdaloue,  Robert  Hall  and  Thomas 
Chalmers  preached  topically  because  they  were 
men  in  whose  nature  the  orator  was  predominant. 

2.  It  must  be  evident  also  that  this  method 
allows  a  thorough  examination  of  any  one  theme. 
A  single  text  rarely  does  this  if  it  be  too  closely 
adhered  to.  Jonathan  Edwards  excelled  in  the 
discussion  of  a  doctrine  in  all  its  various  aspects  ; 
but  his  traditional  reverence  for  having  a  text  pre- 
vented him  from  dispensing  with  it  altogether. 
There  were  many  occasions  when  in  order  to  bring 
it  over  to  his  side  he  used  its  words  in  defiance  of 
the  simplest  principles  of  exegesis.  We  may  avoid 
this  error,  and  yet  find  a  text  to  suit  our  purpose, 
from  which,  without  going  into  any  analysis  of  its 
words, — although  to  them  we  are  careful  to  do  no 
violence, — we  may  discuss  some  great  doctrine  of 
our  faith  or  some  great  crisis  in  our  history. 

3.  As  a  further  advantage  of  topical  preaching, 
we  notice  that  it  trains  the  mind  to  breadth  of 
view.  Mere  verbal  preaching  dishonors  religion 
fully  as  much  as  does  the  substitution  of  human 
opinions  for  divine  declarations.  Preaching  ought 
to  open  up  generous  and  far-reaching  prospects,  to 
fill  the  mind  with   great  conceptions  of  truth,  and 


58  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

to  excite  and  animate  the  spiritual  nature.  Not 
the  bare  words,  but  the  spirit  of  the  words  is  what 
we  should  aim  to  bring  into  the  light.  The  mind 
is  stimulated  at  once  when  Robert  Hall  proposes 
to  discuss  "  Modern  Infidelity,  Considered  with 
Respect  to  its  Influence  on  Society,"^  or  when 
Canon  Liddon  invites  us  to  study  **  The  Idea  of 
Religion."  ^  Chalmers  and  Mozley  and  Phillips 
Brooks  are  preachers  who  excel  in  this  art  of 
rousing  and  engaging  the  intellect  by  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  theme  worthy  of  its  concentrated 
attention. 

III.  It  must  be  granted,  however,  that  the  de- 
fects of  the  topical  treatment  in  a  sermon  are 
serious.  Of  all  methods  it  seems  open  to  the 
gravest  objections.  Some  of  these  we  proceed  to 
mention. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  the  topical  treatment  of  a 
text  leads  to  a  neglect  of  the  word  of  God.  The 
text  is  chosen  as  a  motto,  and  after  having  been 
once  announced  it  is  often  forgotten  altogether,  or 
if  not  this,  it  is  not  continuously  referred  to,  and 
has  no  vital  connection  with  the  sermon.  At  best 
it  is  the  tribute  which  the  preacher  pays  to  custom, 
and  is  regarded  with  no  more  affection  than  is  any 
other  tax.  The  sermon  follows  the  text  as  Peter 
followed  his  Master — afar  off.  Almost  better  would 
it  be  if,  like  the  other  disciples,  it  had  at  once 
forsaken  it  and  fled.  Attention  is  from  the  outset 
diverted  from  the  Scriptures  to  the  preacher.     It 

1  Eph.  2:12.  Ts.  143  :  8. 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  59 

is  for  his  opinions  that  we  listen,  when  we  ought 
to  hear  only  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak.  Topi- 
cal preaching  by  neglecting  the  Bible  in  the  pulpit 
has  led  to  its  neglect  in  the  pews.  Why  should 
the  hearer  open  a  book  to  which  he  is  never  once 
referred  ?  To  topical  preaching  is  also  due  that 
style  of  sermon  which  is  no  sermon,  not  a  "word," 
or  message,  or  familiar  discourse ;  but  instead  of 
these  a  treatise,  or  essay.  "  Metaphysical  not 
scriptural,"  said  Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander,  after  listen- 
ing to  a  sermon  of  this  sort ;  ''  clear,  logical,  acute, 
ingenious,  heartless,  orthodox  .  .  .  thankful  I  do 
not  sit  under  the  best  of  such  preaching  ;  I  should 
starve."^  From  the  well-known  words  of  Jesus 
about  true  freedom,^  Dr.  Channing  proposes  "  to 
maintain  that  the  highest  interest  of  communities 
as  well  as  individuals  is  a  spiritual  interest ;  that 
outward  and  earthly  goods  are  of  little  worth  but 
as  bearing  on  the  mind,  and  tending  to  its  libera- 
tion, strength,  and  glory."  This  grand  theme 
leads  to  a  discussion  entirely  worthy  of  it ;  but  was 
either  the  theme  or  the  discussion  in  the  thought 
of  Jesus  when  he  uttered  his  memorable  words  ? 

2.  Judged  by  its  fruits  topical  preaching  has  not 
been  so  useful  as  that  which  has  confined  itself 
rather  to  an  exposition  of  the  words  of  Scripture. 
It  has  fostered  a  false  conception  of  the  purpose 
of  preaching,  and  by  diverting  attention  from 
the  message  to  the  messenger  has  too  often  dis- 
honored the  Spirit,  and  shorn  the  sermon  of  its 

i"Life,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  460.  2  John  8  :  31-36. 


60  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

strength.  Revivals  of  religion  have  been  marked 
by  an  increased  reverence  for  the  precise  words 
of  God,  while  the  great  masters  of  topical  preach- 
ing have  sometimes  mourned  that  their  sermons 
so  rarely  led  to  conversions.  The  reason  for  this 
is  obvious.  The  preacher  has  been  tempted  to 
preach  about  the  text  rather  than  to  open  up  its 
very  message  ;  he  has  given  his  own  views  instead 
of  seeking  to  know  the  mind  of  the  Spirit ;  he  has 
been  interested  in  his  theme  more  than  in  his 
hearers — forgetting  that  the  sermon  was  made  for 
man,  not  man  for  the  sermon — and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  covering  too  much  ground  he  has  failed 
to  come  down  to  particularize  his  congregation, 
and  to  make  close  personal  application  to  the  in- 
dividual conscience  and  heart. 

3.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  topical  preaching 
has  done  much  to  hamper  the  freedom  of  the 
sermon,  and  to  rob  it  of  variety  and  freshness. 
The  number  of  topics  is  after  all  limited,  and  he 
who  has  preached  upon  any  one  topic  will  not  wish 
to  return  to  it  for  some  time.  He  may  have  what 
Chalmers  called  his  ''long-hand  sermons,"  sermons, 
that  is,  in  which  he  discusses  some  doctrine  or  duty 
in  elaborate  detail,  but  the  intervals  between  such 
sermons  are  often  a  dead  level  of  pulpit  common- 
place, trying  the  patience  of  his  hearers  and  toler- 
ated only  for  the  sake  of  the  occasional  mountain 
peak  which  rises  from  the  monotonous  plain. 
Chalmers,  to  whom  reference  has  just  been  made, 
preached  in  every  large  town  of  Great  Britain  ;  but 


THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE   TEXT  6 1 

yet  his  sermons  were  surprisingly  few.  He  was  a 
master  of  that  rare  art  which  can  throw  into  a 
discourse,  even  when  preached  for  the  fortieth 
time,  a  passion  born  at  the  moment  of  its  first 
delivery.  But  such  men,  like  the  elaborate  dis- 
courses of  the  ordinary  topical  preacher,  are  few 
and  far  between. 

IV.  A  few  words  may  be  added  as  to  the  best 
way  in  which  to  treat  the  topical  sermon. 

1 .  The  style  will  naturally  be  rhetorical.  Formed 
on  the  model  of  the  oration  this  kind  of  sermon 
will  often  rise  to  successive  climaxes,  and  close 
with  a  well-defined  peroration.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  element  of 
argument,  which  should  be  found  in  every  sermon, 
and  especially  in  this.  Logic  should  never  be 
sacrificed  to  rhetoric.  The  preacher  in  his  theme 
sets  out  with  a  proposition,  and  he  is  bound  to  see 
to  it  that  this  proposition  is  proved,  at  all  events 
to  his  own  satisfaction.  Nor  should  any  bewitch- 
ment of  oratory  deprive  the  sermon  of  plain  direct 
application.  Without  this  the  preacher  does  little 
more  than  fire  blank  cartridges ;  he  invites  us  to  a 
field  day  rather  than  challenges  us  to  a  conflict. 

2.  The  arrangement  of  the  topical  sermon  will 
naturally  be  decided  by  the  subject  with  which  it 
deals. 

(i)  If  the  preacher  is  handling  a  theme  which  is 
argumentative  or  historical,  his  treatment  should 
be  progressive.  Let  point  after  point  be  indicated, 
reached,  and  reviewed.     Thus  it  was  that  Bishop 


62  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

Butler  in  his  "Fifteen  Sermons"  discussed  Human 
Nature;^  and  thus  also  Henry  Melvill  advanced 
from  one  stage  to  another  in  the  argument  de- 
manded by  his  subject,  after  he  had  whetted  his 
hearers'  appetites  by  a  clear  preliminary  state- 
ment. The  plan  of  campaign  was  first  announced, 
and  then  faithfully  pursued  to  the  culmination  in 
victory. 

(2)  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  preacher  confines 
himself  to  the  elaboration  of  one  distinct  thought, 
his  method  will  be  to  state  and  restate  that  thought 
exhaustively.  Every  separate  facet  of  the  gem 
will  be  held  up  to  the  light.  Here  lay  the  ex- 
cellence of  Chalmers'  great  sermons.  "  The  ex- 
pulsive power  of  a  new  affection,"^  for  instance, 
was  considered  in  every  conceivable  way.  It  pro- 
voked Robert  Hall's  caustic  criticism  that  as  with 
the  door  on  its  hinges  there  was  here  only  move- 
ment without  progress  ;  but  to  this  it  might  be 
sufficient  answer  to  say  that  neither  the  door  nor 
the  sermon  was  intended  to  advance.  The  city 
was  faithfully  compassed  and  in  due  time  before 
the  continuous  circuit  the  walls  fell  down.  The 
rams'  horns  had  not  been  blown  in  vain.^ 

1  See  also  "  Sermons,"  by  Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  1896. 
^  I  John  2  :  15. 

^  See  also  the  sermons  of  Archer  Butler,  J.  H.  Newman,  and 
Phillips  Brooks. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  TEXT— 
Continued 


SUMMARY 


the  textual  sermon. 
Definition. 

I.  The  Textual  Sermon  Proper. 

1.  Definition. 

2.  Upon  what  its  success  depends  :   ( I )   Upon  skill  in  selection  ; 

(2)  Upon  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  analysis. 

3.  Characteristics    distinguishing    this    kind    of    sermon  :   ( I ) 

Natural  and  easy  ;  (2)   With  a  distinct  advance  in  thought. 

II.  The  Textual-Topical  Sermon. 

1.  A  distinct  advance  on  the  textual  method  proper. 

2.  The  divisions  expressed  topically  but  treated  textually. 

3.  Advance  and  culmination  in  the  thought  demanded. 

III.  The  Textual-Inferential  Sermon. 

1.  This  method  described. 

2.  Four  remarks  :   ( i )  The  form  of  this  kind  of  sermon  depends 

on  the  clearness  and  cogency  of  its  logical  advance  ;   ( 2 ) 
Specially  suitable  to  preachers  of  a  logical  cast  of  mind. 

(3)  This  kind  of  sermon  not  common.     Why?     (4)  Very 
effective  under  favorable  conditions. 

Conclusion  :  Why  textual  preaching  is  to  be  commended. 


i 


THE    TREATMENT    OF  THE    TEXT    (CONTINUED) 

In  the  textual  sermon  the  text  itself  gives  the 
theme,  and  the  divisions  of  the  sermon  are  natu- 
rally  suggested    by   its    prominent 

words.     The    text     is    not    a   mere    "^^^  Textual 

Serraon 
motto    for   the    sermon,    but    much 

more  and  much  better.  It  is  the  germ  of  the 
sermon,  and  from  it  come  the  life  and  substance 
of  the  divisions.  The  flavor  of  the  text  is  every- 
where to  be  detected  in  the  sermon,  as  the  breath 
of  the  pine  forest  is  in  every  fir  cone  taken  from  it. 

Textual  sermons  we  divide  into  the  textual 
sermon  proper,  the  textual-topical  sermon,  and  the 
textual-inferential  sermon. 

I.  The  textual  sermon  in  its  simplest  form  may 
be  defined  as  following  closely  the  words  of  the 
text,  clause  by  clause. 

I.  It  does  not  exhaust  their  meaning,  but  con- 
fines itself  to  their  bearing  on  the  special  theme 
of  the  sermon.  For  example,  the  character  and 
purpose  of  affliction  may  be  the  subject  of  a  dis- 
course from  the  words,  ''  For  our  light  affliction, 
which  is  for  the  moment,  worketh  for  us  more  and 
more  exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of  glory,"  ^  and 

^  2  Cor.  4  :  17,  R.  V. 

E  65 


66        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

then  the  words  of  the  first  clause  of  the  text  will 
suggest  that  this  affliction  is  personal  to  ourselves, 
that  it  is  not  heavy,  and  that  it  is  transient ; 
while  in  the  second  clause  we  shall  find  that  the 
purpose  of  the  application  is  to  work  out  for  us 
glory  in  such  measure  as  shall  exceed  all  our 
tribulations ;  and  this  is  set  forth  by  the  two 
clauses,  "more  and  more  exceedingly"  and  "an 
eternal  weight." 

2.  Upon  what,  we  may  ask,  does  a  successful 
treatment  in  the  case  of  a  textual  sermon  proper 
depend  ? 

(i)  We  answer,  on  skill,  first  of  all,  in  selecting, 
and  then  in  analysis.  There  are,  indeed,  many 
passages  of  the  Bible  which  admit  of  being  treated 
in  this  way  without  any  suspicion  of  triviality  on 
the  part  of  the  preacher,  but  he  must  always  be  on 
his  guard  against  the  almost  unconscious  growth 
of  mere  verbalism.  "  All  language,"  as  Emerson 
says,  "  is  vehicular  and  transitive,  and  is  good,  as 
ferries  are,  for  conveyance ;  not  as  farms  and 
houses  are,  for  homesteads." 

(2)  In  order  to  divide  a  text  on  the  lines  of  its 
precise  language,  and  to  do  so  intelligently,  it  is 
necessary,  further,  that  the  preacher  should  so  far 
understand  the  laws  of  analysis  that  he  can  take  a 
text  to  pieces,  not  as  a  child  breaks  up  a  watch, 
with  a  club,  but  as  the  watchmaker  does,  with  deft 
and  well-trained  fingers.  To  each  word  its  own 
weight  and  import  must  be  given,  nor  must  it  ever 
be  so  detached  from  its  context  as  to  be  indifferent 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  6^ 

to  the  quarry  from  which  it  has  been  hewn.  When 
well  done  this  simple  plan  of  a  sermon  is  often 
very  happy.  A  modern  preacher  deduces  from  the 
words,  "  Thou  openest  thine  hand  and  satisfiest  the 
desire  of  every  living  thing,"  ^  these  three  points  as 
to  God's  way  of  providing  for  his  creatures  :  He 
provides  personally  {''thou"),  and  easily  ("open- 
est thine  hand  "),  and  abundantly  {''and  satisfiest," 
etc.).  Here  is  a  treatment  which  does  full  justice 
to  the  psalmist's  thought  and  yet  keeps  close  to 
the  psalmist's  words. 

3.  We  notice  two  characteristics  by  which  this 
kind  of  a  sermon  should  be  distinguished. 

(i)  It  should  be  natural  and  easy.  In  your 
divisions,  preserve,  whenever  it  is  possible  to  do 
so,  the  very  words  of  the  text.  In  treating  Heb. 
4:7:  "Again  he  limit eth  a  certain  day,  saying  in 
David,  To-day,  after  so  long  a  time ;  as  it  is  said. 
To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts,"  W.  C.  Burns,  afterward  a  missionary  to 
China,  but  at  that  time  an  evangelist  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  discussed,  first,  the  meaning 
of  hearing  God's  voice,  then  of  hardening  the 
heart,  and  finally  found  in  his  text  three  argu- 
ments against  this  sin  :  namely,  losing  the  prom- 
ised rest,  the  danger  of  neglecting  any  longer,  and 
the  solemn  responsibility  coming  from  being  called 
"to-day." 

To  divide  the  words  in  Acts  ii  :  23  by  consid- 
ering, first,  what    Barnabas    saw — "  the  grace  of 

1  Ps.  145  :  16. 


68  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

God  "  ;  second,  what  he  felt — "  he  was  glad  "  ;  and 
third,  what  he  said — "  cleave  unto  the  Lord,"  is  to 
be  as  faithful  to  the  text  as  Barnabas  exhorted  the 
believers  at  Antioch  to  be  to  their  Master.  A 
partition  so  simple  as  this  suggests  a  passing  cau- 
tion against  the  trick  of  mere  verbal  division. 
It  is  often  fatally  easy  to  divide  a  text  by  its 
words.  The  Puritan  preacher  illustrated  this 
when,  expatiating  on  a  passage  in  Solomon's  Song : 
"I  sat  down  under  his  shadow  with  great  de- 
light," ^  he  considered  the  joy  of  the  saint  when 
communing  with  his  Lord  under  these  three 
heads :  First,  what  he  did — "  he  sat  "  ;  second, 
where  he  sat — *'  under  his  shadow  "  ;  third,  how 
he    sat — "with  great    delight." 

(2)  The  textual  sermon  proper  should  be  further 
characterized  by  a  distinct  advance  in  thought. 
Each  fresh  division  ought  to  carry  the  considera- 
tion of  the  theme  one  more  step  toward  the  cli- 
max. If  this  is  done  the  preacher  may  not  be 
able  in  every  instance  to  take  the  words  of  his 
text  as  they  happen  to  come.  So  much  the  bet- 
ter. The  maxim  of  Joubert^  is  in  place  here: 
*'  Let  your  mind  always  be  loftier  than  your 
thoughts  and  your  thoughts  loftier  than  your 
language."  As  Montaigne  wisely  says  :  **  It  is  for 
words  to  serve  and  wait  upon  the  matter  and 
not  for  matter  to  attend  upon  words."  Of  course 
when  the  order  of  the  words  gives  the  order  of  the 

^  Song  of  Solomon  2  :  3. 
'  See  Dale,  ♦*  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p,  176. 


THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  69 

thought  the  rhetorical  advance  will  be  all  the 
stronger. 

What  is  it  to  follow  Christ  ?  He  himself 
answers  when  he  says,  **  If  any  man  will  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross,  and  follow  me."  ^  Here  are  three  points. 
Self-denial,  self-sacrifice,  self-obliteration,  are  the 
three  progressive  steps  in  the  imitation  of  Christ. 
In  this  instance  the  words  as  Jesus  spoke  them 
furnish  the  precise  order  in  which  the  preacher 
will  most  naturally  arrange  his  material,  because 
they  also  furnish  the  precise  law  of  development 
in  obedience  to  which  true  discipleship  grows. 

II.  From  a  consideration  of  this  simplest  kind 
of  textual  preaching  we  pass  to  the  textual-topical 
method. 

I.  This  is  a  distinct  advance  on  the  textual- 
proper  method.  Its  success  depends  on  the  union 
of  the  analytical  and  synthetical  elements  in  the 
mind  of  the  preacher.  He  uses  analysis  first  that 
so  he  may  discover  the  precise  meaning  and  weight 
of  the  word  of  God.  Doing  this  the  theme  will 
unfold  itself  and  will  come  to  him  in  happily 
chosen  phraseology.  Then  a  process  of  synthesis 
begins  by  which  the  subject  will  grow  up  under  his 
hand  in  symmetry  and  force  of  presentation.  To 
illustrate  the  distinction  between  this  method  of 
making  a  sermon  and  the  method  of  simple  textual 
analysis  we  may  take  the  weighty  question  to 
which  reference  has   already  been  made,    '*  How 

1  Luke  9  :  23. 


70        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? "  ^ 
To  prepare  a  sermon  on  the  textual-proper  basis 
all  that  is  needed  is  that  each  prominent  word  shall 
be  taken  as  a  division  for  the  discourse,  and  in 
this  way,  the  emphasis  laid  on  ''escape,"  "we," 
"if,"  "neglect,"  "salvation,"  and  "great,"  will 
bring  out  the  meaning  of  the  whole  passage  under 
six  heads.  But  at  the  same  time  we  clarify  our 
thought  and  arrange  it  in  ^  compact  and  more 
telling  manner  when  we  reduce  this  number  to 
three,  and  find  in  our  text,  first,  a  mighty  deliver- 
ance ("  so  great  salvation") ;  second,  an  impending 
danger  ("neglect");  and  third,  an  inevitable  doom 
("  how  shall  we  escape  ?" )  This  order  also  does 
justice  to  the  thought  of  the  apostle,  who  was  not 
setting  forth  what  the  gospel  was,  but  insisting  on 
the  impossibility  of  our  being  saved  if  it  should  be 
neglected. 

2.  Notice  that  under  this  method  the  divisions 
of  the  sermon  are  expressed  topically,  but  treated 
textually.  That  is,  the.  thought  rather  than  the 
words  of  the  text  is  made  prominent,  and  the 
preacher  is  in  less  danger  of  falling  into  a  narrow 
verbal  treatment  of  his  subject.  Spurgeon  in  a 
sermon  plan  which  shows  more  art  than  is  usual 
with  him,  sets  forth  with  great  freshness  our  love 
to  Christ  as  it  is  summed  up  in  the  words  "We 
love  him  because  he  first  loved  us,"^  and  he  says 
that  our  love  to  Christ  is  (i)  a  fact  deserving  open 
avowal — "We    love    him";    (2)   an  effect  flowing 

^  Heb.  2-3.  ^  I  John  4  :  19. 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  ^I 

from  a  cause — ''We  love  him  because,"  etc.;  (3) 
a  simplicity  founded  on  a  mystery — ''he  first 
loved  us  " ;  and  (4)  a  force  sustained  by  another 
force — "We  love  him — he  loved  us." 

3.  We  may  remark,  further,  that  there  should 
be  advance  and  cumulation  in  the  thought  of  the 
sermon.  This  the  preacher  will  obtain  by  observ- 
ing closely  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
passage  under  consideration.  The  word  of  God 
is  continually  moving  forward  in  its  thought  to- 
ward a  distinct  consummation.  The  poet -preacher 
Robertson,  of  Irvine,  in  a  discourse  on  Paul's 
warning  to  the  Ephesians,^  "And  grieve  not  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto 
the  day  of  redemption,"  illustrates  this  in  a  mas- 
terly plan  :^  (i)  A  great  period — "The  day  of  re- 
demption "  ;  (2)  a  great  privilege — "  Sealed  "  ;  (3) 
a  great  practical  requirement — "  Grieve  not,"  etc. ; 
(4)  the  great  persuasion  to  the  performance  of  the 
requirement — "  Grieve  not  the  Spirit  whereby  ye 
are  sealed." 

4.  As  a  concluding  remark  on  the  textual-topi- 
cal treatment  of  the  text,  we  observe  that  more 
than  any  other  it  ensures  freshness  and  variety  in 
the  sermon.  The  mind  of  the  preacher  is  indeed 
held  in  wholesome  subjection  to  the  words  of  his 
text,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  it  ranges  freely 
about  its  central  thought.  In  proof  of  this  state- 
ment, it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  textual-topical 
method  is  that  which  is  followed  by  F.  W.  Rob- 

1  Epb.  4:  30.  '  W.  B.  Robertson's  "Memoir,"  p.  129. 


72  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

ertson,  whose  sermons  more  than  those  of  any 
other  one  preacher  have  influenced  the  pulpits  of 
our  generation.  His  early  training  gave  him  a 
very  profound  reverence  for  the  words  of  the 
Bible,  and  later  in  his  ministry  his  own  ripe 
thought  trained  him  to  look  in  every  case  through 
the  words  at  the  truth  which  they  expressed.  Not 
the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  but  the  solid  ore  which 
lay  beneath  the  jeweled  turf,  was  what  he  sought 
and  found.  Take,  for  example,  his  sermon  on 
Christ  weeping  over  Jerusalem.^  Refusing  to  con- 
fine himself  to  the  pathetic  picture  of  the  Son  of 
Man  in  tears,  he  does  full  justice  to  the  tragic  ele- 
ment in  the  scene  by  considering  *<  Three  Times 
in  a  Nation's  History,"  (i)  a  day  of  grace  (''this 
thy  day") ;  (2)  a  day  of  blindness  (**  hid  from  thine 
eyes");  (3)  a  day  of  judgment  ("thine  enemies 
shall  cast  a  trench  about  thee,"  etc.).  How  much 
better  because  truer  to  the  circumstances  of  that 
memorable  incident  in  the  closing  days  of  our 
Lord's  ministry,  is  this  simple  but  impressive 
analysis  than  any  amount  of  mere  sentiment  such 
as  the  ordinary  surface  preacher  would  indulge  in. 

ni.  The  textual-inferential  sermon  furnishes  the 
third  class  of  sermons  which  draw  their  strength 
directly  from  the  text. 

I.  In  this  instance  the  theme  is  found  in  the 
words  of  the  text  and  the  sermon  consists  of  a 
series  of  inferences  drawn  naturally  from  them. 
In  the  case  already  considered  ^  of  the  man  who 

^  Luke  19  :  41-44.  ^  Heb.  2  :  3. 


THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  73 

neglects  the  gospel  invitation,  we  infer  that  he  can- 
not escape  condemnation  from  a  consideration  of 
the  character,  the  history  (''which  at  the  first," 
etc.),  and  the  magnitude  of  the  great  salvation. 
This  example  illustrates  the  first  remark  which  we 
make,  namely,  that  the  force  of  this  kind  of  ser- 
mon depends  very  much  on  the  clearness  and  co- 
gency of  its  logical  advance.^ 

2.  For  this  reason  sermons  of  this  class 
specially  suit  the  preacher  of  a  naturally  argu- 
mentative cast  of  mind.  For  example.  Dr.  John 
Ker,  of  Glasgow,  whose  eloquence  was  especially 
rich  in  the  logic  which  is  tempered  by  emotion  (as 
the  logic  of  the  pulpit  always  should  be),  preach- 
ing from  the  words,  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out,"  ^  infers  that  Jesus  will 
not  cast  out  any  that  come  to  him  because  to  do 
so  would  not  be  according  to  his  promise,  his 
office,  his  heart,  or  his  wont ;  and  also  because  to 
do  so  would  be  to  desert  the  work  he  had  begun 
to  do  ;  and  he  closes  with  the  inquiry,  *'  Where 
could  he  cast  them  .?" 

3.  This  kind  of  sermon  is  not  common,  prob- 
ably for  the  two  reasons,  that  only  a  limited  num- 
ber of  texts  can  be  treated  thus,  and  only  a  limited 
number  of  preachers  are  equal  to  thus  treating 
them.  The  text  must  be  one  from  which  a  series 
of  logical  propositions  can  be  drawn  ;  and  the  ser- 
mon must  preserve  faithfully  the  spirit,  and  even 
where  possible  the  very  words  of  the  text. 

'  Phelps,  "Theory  of  Preaching,"  p.  308.  ^  John  6  :  37. 


74        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

4.  But  when  a  text  of  the  right  order  of  thought 
is  treated  thus  by  a  preacher  of  the  right  order  of 
mind  this  kind  of  sermon  is  very  effective.  At 
the  same  time  analytical,  synthetical,  argumenta- 
tive, and  rhetorical,  it  commands  respectful  hear- 
ing and  lifts  the  preacher  himself  into  an  atmos- 
phere of  intelligent  popular  esteem  which  is  as 
honorable  to  himself  as  it  is  to  his  office.  Some 
of  the  most  effective  expositions  in  Matthew 
Henry's  "  Commentary  "  are  of  this  character  and 
show  that  versatile  preacher  in  his  happiest  mo- 
ments ;  ^  but  it  is  in  the  hands  of  men  of  a  still 
higher  intellectual  power  that  the  inferential  ser- 
mon reveals  the  fullness  of  its  resources.  The 
tremendous  force  of  Jonathan  Edwards  in  such  a 
sermon  as  "  Wrath  upon  the  wicked  to  the  utter- 
most," ^  lies  in  the  resistless  logic  of  a  series  of 
conclusions  drawn  straight  from  a  text  upon  which 
most  preachers  would  hesitate  to  preach ;  and  the 
same  remark  holds  true  about  the  addresses  of  C. 
G.  Finney,  in  which  the  passionate  emotion  of  the 
preacher  quenches  his  logical  acumen  no  more 
than  the  ripening  vines  on  Vesuvius  quench  the 
fires  burning  at  its  heart. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  say  that  textual  preaching 
is  to  be  commended  because  he  who  conscien- 
tiously practises  it  is  almost  certain  to  find  in  it 
variety  of  subject,  freshness  of  treatment,  and 
richness  of  resource.  As  a  rule,  the  closer  the 
preacher  keeps  to  the  word  and  the  spirit  of  his 

^£.  g,^  Jer.  38  :  7-13.  ^  I  Thess.  2  :  l6. 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  75 

message  the  ampler  becomes  his  treasury  of  texts 
and  themes.  It  is  only  when  in  his  unaided  strength 
he  gives  himself  to  seek  and  search  out  concern- 
ing the  things  that  are  done  under  heaven,  that  he 
cries  with  the  preacher  in  old  Jerusalem/  "The 
thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which  shall  be ; 
.  .  .  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun." 
The  Bible,  as  Tholuck  says,  ''if  it  be  thoroughly 
studied  and  made  the  theme  of  public  ministration 
will  be  found  to  be  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  truth."  We  may  well  profit 
by  the  experience  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Alexander  when 
he  writes,  "  Learn  to  preach  textual  sermons.  The 
mistake  of  my  early  ministry  was  in  preaching  al- 
most solely  upon  topics.  If  you  preach  textual 
sermons  you  won't  be  apt  to  preach  out."  In 
textual  preaching,  by  the  witness  of  many  of  the 
foremost  preachers  of  our  century,  lies  the  secret 
of  a  long  and  fruitful  ministry. 

^  Eccl.  I  :  9. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  TEXT— 
Continued 


SUMMARY 


I.  The  Various  Kinds  of  Expository  Sermons. 

1.  Scripture  words  and  phrases. 

2.  Exposition  of  a  complete  passage. 

3.  A  course  of  expository  sermons  :  (i)  The  entire  Bible;  (2) 

One  book ;  (3)  Sacred  biography ;  (4)  A  group   of  sub- 
jects. 

II.  Arguments  in  Favor  of  Expository  Preaching. 

1.  The  most  natural  way. 

2.  Scripture  precedent  on  its  side. 

3.  Historic  usage  commends  it. 

4.  Greatly  benefits  a  congregation  :  (i)  Incites  to  a  study  of 

Scripture  ;    (2)  Does  justice    to  the  mind  of   the    Spirit ; 
(3)   Builds  up  a  congregation  in  divine  truth. 

5.  Of  service  to  the  preacher  himself. 

III.  Qualifications  for  Success  in  Expository  Preaching. 

1.  An  intelligent  faith  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  • 

2.  A  power  of  selection. 

3.  A  logical  mind. 

4.  Preaching  power. 

5.  Studious  habits  constantly  maintained. 

IV.  Counsels. 

1.  Begin  the  preaching  of  exposition  with  a  brief  course, 

2.  Begin  elsewhere  than  at  the  Sunday  service. 

3.  Carefully  study  models  of  excellence  in  exposition. 

4.  Show  results  rather  than  processes. 

5.  Attend  to  the  rhetoric  of  the  expository  sermon. 


VI 

THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE    TEXT  (CONTINUED) 

Every  sermon  must  have  in  it  a  certain  amount 
of  exposition,  as  every  case  in  law  must  have  in  it 
a  certain  amount  of  statement.  In 
the  topical  sermon  there  is  likely  to  ^^^^  Sennon 
be  some  exposition  of  the  theme ;  and 
in  the  textual  sermon  it  is  still  more  likely  that  as 
the  result  of  careful  exegesis  there  will  be  some 
exposition  of  the  text.  But  we  come  now  to  deal 
with  the  sermon  which  is  exclusively  expository  in 
its  nature.  The  constantly  increasing  number  of 
preachers  who  are  setting  forth  the  truths  of 
Scripture  in  this  way,  and  the  growing  demand  for 
this  sort  of  preaching  among  our  more  intelligent 
hearers,  make  it  of  the  first  importance  that  we 
consider  just  what  the  expository  sermon  is,  what 
can  be  said  in  its  favor,  and  what  qualifications  are 
necessary  in  the  preacher  who  is  desirous  of  doing 
full  justice  to  it  in  his  ministry. 

I.  There  are  so   many  varieties   of    exposition 
that  we  will  begin  by  a  classification. 

I.   Simplest  of  all   forms   of   exposition  is  the 
study  of  Scripture  words  and  phrases. 

(i)  As  to  the  method  which  consists  in  selecting 
some  one  word,  and  arranging  in  some  kind  of  or- 

79 


80  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

der  the  places  where  it  occurs  in  the  Bible,  and 
then  amplifying  each  instance  with  exhortation  or 
illustrating  it  with  anecdote,  it  stands  related  to 
the  sermon  much  as  the  kindergarten  stands  re- 
lated to  the  university.  There  may  be  infantile 
conditions  in  the  spiritual  life  where  it  has  its  use, 
but  we  doubt  it.  What  profit  can  there  be  in 
stringing  together  "The  *  Comes'  of  the  Bible," 
when  the  only  possible  connection  between  them  is 
the  fact  that  a  number  of  passages  have  this  one 
word  in  common  ? 

(2)  When  a  phrase  rather  than  a  word  is  chosen, 
an  advance  has  been  made.  To  select  some  topic, 
doctrinal  or  practical,  and  trace  its  history  along 
the  lines  of  revelation,  is  interesting  and  profita- 
ble; but  even  here  great  care  must  be  taken  to 
maintain  the  dignity  of  Scripture,  not  to  find  in  it 
what  was  not  meant  to  be  there,  and  not  to  yield 
to  the  dictates  of  fancy,  of  accidental  alliteration, 
or  of  mere  prettiness  of  form.  Vast  harm  has 
been  done  by  expositors  who  foist  a  non-natural 
sense  on  words  and  phrases,  and  who,  like  dishonest 
speculators  salting  mines  to  beguile  their  gullible 
victims,  dig  out  of  the  Bible  just  what  they  them- 
selves have  first  put  into  it.  So  Ruskin  says  :  "  I 
believe  few  sermons  are  more  false  or  dangerous 
than  those  in  which  the  teacher  professes  to  im 
press  his  audience  by  showing  how  much  there  is 
in  a  verse.  If  he  examined  his  own  heart  closely 
before  beginning,  he  would  often  find  that  his  real 
desire  was  to  show  how  much  he,  the  expounder, 


THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE   TEXT  8 1 

could  make  out  of  a  verse."  *  How  easily  this  de- 
generates into  solemn  trifling  the  mediaeval  ser* 
mons  witness,  but  in  later  times  and  in  schools 
priding  themselves  on  the  enjoyment  of  special 
light  the  same  mischievous  tendency  is  to  be 
traced.  "My  brethren,"  observed  a  monk  of  this 
discerning  order,  when  preaching  upon  the  serv- 
ant of  the  high  priest  warming  himself,  *'My 
brethren,  see  how  the  evangelist  relates  not  merely 
as'  an  historian,  'he  warmed  himself,'  but  as  a 
philosopher,  'because  he  was  cold.'" 

2.  When  we  proceed  to  the  exposition  of  a  com- 
plete passage  of  Scripture  we  pass  to  a  much 
higher  kind  of  preaching.  To  do  this  well  the 
preacher  needs  some  acquaintance  with  the  origi- 
nal tongues  of  Scripture,  in  their  genius  if  not  in 
their  grammar ;  a  familiarity  with  the  way  in  which 
words  and  phrases  are  used  in  the  Bible  ;  readiness 
in  seeing  antitheses,  contrasts,  comparisons,  and 
parallels  ;  and  rhetorical  skill  as  well  as  spiritual 
fervor,  so  that  his  sermon  may  be  alive,  "a  thing," 
as  Luther  said,  "with  hands  and  feet."  In  doing 
this  it  may  be  best  to  break  up  the  passage  which 
you  are  to  expound  into  clauses  and  make  of  each 
clause  a  division  of  the  discourse ;  ^  or  it  may  be  pos- 
sible to  select  out  of  the  whole  passage  one  or  two 
verses  for  a  text  on  which  all  the  others  naturally 
converge.     Thus  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first 

^  Ruskin,  "Modern  Painters,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  157. 
^Candlish,   "Genesis,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  46.     Maclaren,  "A  Pattern 
of  Prayer"  (Ps.  86  :  I-5). 

F 


jSOi. 


82  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

Psalm  has  for  its  keynote  the  word  "Keep,"  and 
the  thought  of  God's  preserving  care  for  Israel 
runs  through  the  whole.  "The  Lord  is  thy 
keeper  "  is  therefore  an  excellent  text  for  a  ser- 
mon on  this  entire  psalm.^ 

3.  If  the  preacher  finds  himself  succeeding  in 
such  an  exposition,  he  may  naturally  plan  out  a 
course  of  expository  sermons. 

(i)  That  even  the  exposition  of  the  entire  Bible 
is  not  impossible,  Matthew  Henry's  "  Commentary  " 
remains  as  the  substantial  evidence ;  and  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Parker's  "People's  Bible"  illustrates  another 
and  less  elaborate  way  of  attaining  the  same  end. 
Dean  Farrar  succeeded  in  keeping  a  nobleman 
awake  against  his  will  by  a  sermon,  the  text  of 
which  was  the  whole  Bible ;  and  he  advocates  a 
series  on  the  books  of  the  Bible  which  might  be 
prefaced  by  another  on  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  and 
on  the  various  kinds  of  literature  of  which  it 
is  composed.^  "  The  Bible  as  History  "  can  be  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  great  epochs  it  covers,  and 
"The  Bible  as  Literature"  can  be  treated  under 
the  heads  of  history,  poetry,  proverbial  lore,  and 
so  on. 

(2)  The  exposition  of  some  one  book  of  the  Bi- 
ble is  much  to  be  commended.  The  skill  of  the 
preacher  will  be  shown  in  breaking  up  the  book 

^  "The  Expositor  in  the  Pulpit,"  Prof.  M.  R.  Vincent.  See 
also  "Notes  on  Genesis,"  F.  W.  Robertson  (Gen.  50  :  24-26). 
Dale's  "Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching, "  pp.  229-231. 

2F.  W.  Farrar,  in  "The  Homiletic  Review,"  January,  1897. 


THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE   TEXT  83 

into  distinct  themes,  in  showing  how  one  subject 
stands  related  to  others,  and  in  fastening  upon  the 
key  thought  of  the  passage  under  exposition,  and 
holding  his  audience  to  it/  A  series  of  sermons 
on  Galatians  or  Ephesians  can  readily  be  mapped 
out  in  this  way,  because  the  lines  of  cleavage  are 
clearly  defined.  The  character  of  the  book  to  be 
expounded  will  naturally  determine  the  character 
of  the  treatment.  Sometimes  the  homiletical 
form  will  be  adhered  to,  and  there  will  be  well- 
marked  divisions  in  the  discourse;^  again,  when 
some  great  central  doctrine  is  expounded,  the 
preacher  will  collate  passages,  and  his  address  will 
become  more  of  a  treatise,  calling  for  close  at- 
tention on  the  part  of  his  hearers  and  taxing  his 
own  powers  as  theologian  and  logician  as  well  as 
preacher  ;  or  if  he  is  pursuing  the  course  of  his- 
tory he  will  become  a  narrator,  and  will  tell  his 
story  with  such  illustrations  and  enforcements  as 
the  age  and  audience  suggest.^ 

(3)  The  study  of  sacred  biography  is  of  per- 
petual interest  and  value.  Let  the  preacher  fix 
upon  the  Scripture  character  whom  he  proposes  to 
study,  and  divide  his  life  by  its  main  epochs,  and 
assign  one  sermon  or  lecture  to  each  epoch.  The 
interest  in  many  of  the  great  figures  of  the  Bible 

*0.  S.  Stearns,  d.  d..  **  Introduction  to  the  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament." 

25.  Cox,  D.  D.,  "The  Private  Letters  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
John."  Alex.  Maclaren,  D.  D.,  "Epistles  of  Paul  to  the  Colos- 
sians  and  Philemon." 

»Alex.  Raleigh,  d.  d.,  "The  Book  of  Jonah." 


84  THE   MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

never  flags.  Abraham  is  the  emigrant  for  all 
time,  Joseph  the  perpetual  model  for  young  men  ; 
every  age  sees  in  David  chivalrous  traits  which  it 
loves  to  trace  also  in  its  own  heroes,  and,  alike  by 
his  strength  and  his  weakness,  Peter  never  fails  to 
touch  the  one  universal  human  heart.^ 

(4)  We  mention  as  another  useful  kind  of  ex- 
position, the  consecutive  study  of  some  group  of 
Scripture  subjects  such  as  the  parables  or  miracles 
of  our  Lord.  Good  models  will  be  found  in  **  The 
Pilgrim  Psalms ;  An  Exposition  of  the  Songs  of 
Degrees,"  by  Dr.  S.  Cox ;  and  "  The  Law  of  the 
Ten  Words,"  by  Dr.  J.  O.  Dykes. 

11.  Let  us  now  glance  at  some  of  the  arguments 
in  favor  of  Expository  Preaching. 

1.  First  among  these  we  mention  that  it  is  the 
most  natural  way  of  enforcing  divine  truth.  To 
interpret  the  Scriptures  is  the  purpose  for  which 
the  ministry  was  instituted.^  "  We  cannot  expect 
to  deliver  much  of  the  teachings  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture by  picking  out  verse  by  verse,  and  holding 
these  up  at  random.  The  process  resembles  too 
closely  that  of  showing  a  house  by  exhibiting 
separate  bricks."  ^ 

2.  More  than  any  other  way  of  preaching,  the 
expository  method  has  scriptural  precedent  in  its 
favor.  Ezra  standing  upon  his  pulpit  of  wood 
(Neh.  8),  which  they  had  made  for  the  purpose, 

»W.  M.  Taylor,  d.  d,   "Elijah,"  etc.     Dr.  Maclaren,  ''The 
Life  of  David  as  Reflected  in  his  Psalms." 

'^Alexander,  "Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  p.  274.       '  Spurgeon. 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  85 

with  his  group  of  elders  supporting  him,  and  open- 
ing the  book  of  the  law  in  the  sight  of  all  the 
people,  and  reading  distinctly,  and  giving  the  sense, 
and  causing  the  great  open-air  congregation  to 
understand  the  words  as  he  read  them,  is  **  the 
very  first  original  and  most  ancient  type  and  pat- 
tern of  our  best  pulpit  work  to  this  day."  ^  And 
Jesus,  with  the  eyes  of  all  in  the  synagogue  fas- 
tened on  him,  expounding  Isaiah  in  the  synagogue 
of  his  early  home  is  the  perpetual  model  for  Chris- 
tian preachers.  These  two  examples  point  to  the 
regular  practice  in  the  Jewish  Church. 

3.  Historic  usage  has  almost  everything  to  urge 
in  commendation  of  this  method.  The  early  be- 
lievers brought  it  from  the  synagogues  to  their 
meetings.  In  the  second  century  Justin  Martyr 
says  that  the  portion  of  Scripture  read  in  the 
public  service  was  followed  by  addresses  upon  it ; 
Chrysostom,  two  hundred  years  later,  complains  of 
his  audience  because  while  he  is  expounding  the 
Bible  their  eyes  are  turned  to  the  man  who  was 
lighting  the  lamps  ;  and  his  contemporary,  Augus- 
tine, in  his  own  expositions  has  left  us  one  secret  of 
his  impressiveness  as  a  preacher.  Exposition  con- 
tinued to  protest  against  the  puerility  and  irrever- 
ence of  the  preaching  which  chose  a  text  only  as  a 
motto,  "a  usage  learned  by  the  modern  church, 
not  from  apostolic  times,  but  from  the  most  cor- 
rupt age  of  Christendom."  ^ 

Supreme  as  an  expounder,  Calvin  was  only  one 

^  Dr.  Alexander  VSTiyte.  ^  Rev,  Edward  White. 


86  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

in  the  fearless  host  of  Protestant  reformers  who 
used  it.  Luther  in  Germany,  Colet  in  England, 
Knox  in  Scotland,  forged  their  mightiest  weapons 
in  the  fires  of  Scripture  exposition  ;  and  in  times 
later  still  it  is  enough  to  mention  the  great  name 
of  Matthew  Henry  who  being  dead  yet  speaketh, 
and  to  this  hour  by  his  popular  "  Commentary " 
keeps  a  multitude  of  pulpits,  in  some  measure  at  all 
events,  loyal  to  this  highest  and  noblest  method  of 
preaching. 

4.  Think  how  greatly  expository  preaching  bene- 
fits a  congregation. 

(i)  Inciting  them  to  a  study  of  their  Bible,  it 
makes  them  dissatisfied  indeed  with  inferior  pulpit 
work  but  keen  in  their  appreciation  of  the  best. 
It  has  created  a  standard  in  Scotland  which  has 
influenced  not  only  the  religion  of  the  people,  but 
also  their  habits  of  thought,  their  literary  judg- 
ment, their  political  faith,  and  the  fullest  pulsa- 
tions of  their  patriotism. 

(2)  It  does  the  amplest  justice  to  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  Scriptures,  and  brings  with  it  the 
approval  of  God,  for  the  ministry  which  honors 
him  the  most  is  the  ministry  which  he  is  surest  to 
honor.  Incidentally  it  should  be  said,  that  ex- 
position allows  of  the  impartial  treatment  of  many 
portions  of  Scripture  which  would  otherwise  be 
neglected,  or  from  which  the  preacher  might  turn 
aside  out  of  a  super-sensitive  fear  of  being  thought 
personal.  "  When  the  Scripture  battery  is  fired 
off  in  order,  there  is  no  suspicion  as  to  the  laying 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  8/ 

of  the  guns.  We  all  take  our  turn  to  be  under 
fire,  as  we  all  need  it."  ^ 

(3)  So  it  is  sure  when  faithfully  done  to  build 
up  a  congregation  in  divihe  truth.  A  minister 
will  be  likely  to  remain  when  he  is  bound  to  his 
people  by  an  unfinished  course  of  exposition,  and 
is  not  tempted  to  throw  up  his  church  in  a  hurry 
between  the  irresponsible  excursions  among  discon- 
nected and  desultory  texts.  How  could  Matthew 
Henry  leave  Chester  for  London  at  a  time  when 
his  people  were  waiting  to  see  him  wrestle  with  an 
unfulfilled  prophecy,  or  a  perplexing  doctrine } 
*'This  skipping  and  divagation  from  place  to 
place,"  says  John  Knox,  '*  be  it  in  reading,  be 
it  in  preaching,  we  judge  not  so  profitable  to 
edify  the  church  as  the  continual  following  of 
one  text."  An  American  visitor  to  Scotland  heard 
Dr.  Candlish  expound  the  eighth  and  ninth  chap- 
ters of  Paul's  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
verse  by  verse,  by  way  of  inducing  his  people  to 
pay  off  a  debt  on  the  church  ;  and  he  testified  that 
"  the  attention  of  the  great  congregation  was  in- 
tense as  they  followed  him  with  their  open  Bibles. 
The  preacher  put  the  appeal  upon  the  very  highest 
ground — the  lesson  of  God's  word  on  the  subject 
of  giving."  ^ 

5.  To  the  preacher  himself,  I  need  scarcely  add, 
expository  preaching  is  of  incalculable  service.  It 
gives  him  the  relief  of  variety  in  sermon  work,  it 

1  Rev.  Edward  White. 
Trof.  M.  R.  Vincent,  "The  Expositor  in  the  Pulpit,"  p.  24. 


88  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

enriches  him  with  texts  which  he  lays  aside  for  his 
other  sermons,  it  affords  him  an  opportunity  to  deal 
with  delicate  themes,  and  it  saves  him  from  the 
anxiety  to  know,  when  one  Sunday  is  safely  sur- 
mounted, on  what  he  is  to  preach  when  the  next 
comes  around.  Here  is  one  secret  of  a  long  and 
fruitful  pastorate. 

III.  What,  it  may  now  be  asked,  are  the  quali- 
fications for  success  in  expository  preaching  ? 

1.  We  take  it  for  granted,  to  begin  with,  that 
the  preacher  has  an  intelligent  faith  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Bible.  Whether  or  not  he  has  formu- 
lated for  himself  a  theory  of  inspiration,  it  is  evident 
that  by  cutting  himself  loose  from  any  reliance  on 
the  final  authority  of  human  opinion,  and  by  refus- 
ing to  submit  his  own  judgment  to  the  dictum  of 
any  historical  church,  he  finds  himself  shut  up  to 
the  supremacy  of  the  word  of  God.  It  is  safe  to 
affirm  that  while  a  vast  amount  of  textual  preach- 
ing has  imperceptibly  weakened  the  respect  which 
thoughtful  people  feel  for  the  Bible,  expository 
preaching  is  bound  to  strengthen  faith  in  it ;  bound 
to  do  so,  we  say,  because  it  compares  spiritual 
things  with  spiritual,  appeals  to  testimony,  gets  at 
the  roots  of  history,  wields  the  weapon  of  argu- 
ment with  a  skill  learned  at  the  feet  of  teachers 
greater  than  Gamaliel,  and  charges  home  on  the 
intelligence  of  its  hearers  with  the  articles  of  Paul's 
great  appeal,  "  I  speak  as  unto  wise  men,  judge  ye 
what  I  say." 

2.  The  preacher  to  do  his  work  well  as  an  ex- 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  89 

pounder  of  Scripture,  should  possess  a  power  of 
selection.  He  must  know  what  he  himself  can  do 
best ;  what  parts  of  the  Bible  are  especially  needed 
by  his  congregation  ;  and  then  how  to  deal  in  a 
workmanlike  way  with  the  portion  when  it  has 
been  fixed  upon.  He  will  not  find  all  Scripture 
submit  itself  to  the  expository  treatment.  Unless 
there  be  unity  of  structure  he  will  be  tempted  to 
substitute  a  few  scattered  remarks  for  the  continu- 
ous and  progressive  unfolding  of  truth  ;  his  sermon 
will  be  a  coat  of  many  inharmonious  colors,  in  little 
danger  of  exciting  the  jealousy  of  his  brethren  ; 
and  his  method,  if  method  it  may  be  called,  will 
be  that  of  the  blundering  preacher  who  said  that 
he  preferred  to  hold  forth  on  a  long  text,  because 
when  he  was  persecuted  in  one  verse  he  could  flee 
to  another. 

3.  We  add,  therefore,  that  he  himself  must  train 
his  mind  in  logical  processes.  Analysis  will  help 
him  to  determine  what  the  passage  under  con- 
sideration contains,  and  synthesis  will  teach  him 
how  to  present  it  effectively  and  forcibly  to  his 
congregation.  Expository  preaching,  as  much  as 
landscape  painting,  depends  largely  on  a  knowledge 
of  perspective.  Do  not  spend  half  an  hour  over  a 
particle,  hewing  out  for  yourself  some  exegetical 
cistern  that  can  hold  no  water,  while  forsaking  the 
fountain  of  living  water  for  which  the  people  are 
athirst.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  the 
probable  meaning  of  Urim  and  Thummim ;  the 
birthplace  of  Judas  Iscariot;   the  weak   eyesight 


go  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

of  the  Apostle  Paul,  are  points  which  may  be  dis- 
missed in  a  few  words,  without  doing  any  injustice 
to  the  emphasis  of  divine  truth.  Map  out  your 
expository  series  carefully  before  beginning  to 
preach.  See  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and — 
for  they  also  are  men  of  like  passions  with  your- 
self— let  your  hearers  see  it  also.  It  will  quicken 
and  maintain  their  interest  if  they  know  that  you 
are  not  starting  out,  as  did  Abram,  not  knowing 
whither  you  are  going.  That  way,  to  the  ordinary 
preacher,  Canaan  does  not  lie. 

4.  So  many  expository  experiments  have  failed 
for  the  lack  of  distinguishing  between  the  teacher's 
chair  and  the  throne  of  oratory,  that  we  must 
insist  upon  preaching  power  as  another  essential 
to  success.  Avoid,  on  the  one  hand,  becoming  too 
hortatory ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  be  on  your  guard 
against  becoming  too  didactic.  The  preacher  is  a 
prophet,  and  comes  to  us  with  a  message.  The 
church  is  not  the  class-room. 

5.  We  crown  our  requirements  when  we  insist 
that  to  expound  the  Bible  satisfactorily  there  must 
be  studious  habits,  and  a  resolution  on  the  part  of 
the  preacher  constantly  to  maintain  them.  Roger 
Bacon,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  traced  the  decay 
of  exposition  to  the  ignorance  of  the  bishops,  and 
in  all  centuries  and  countries  the  preacher  has 
found  it  dangerously  easy  to  glide  into  exhortation 
when  he  should  be  rather  exercising  himself  in 
explanation.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  who  maintained 
for  many  years  a  high  level  of  exposition,  after 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEXT  9 1 

saying  that  for  a  series  of  Old  Testament  dis- 
courses, which  he  was  then  giving  in  New  York, 
he  carried  no  manuscript  into  the  pulpit,  and  in- 
deed prepared  no  rhetoric,  added :  "  I  study  three 
days  on  each  exposition,  using  every  help  of  He- 
brew history,  geography,  archaeology,  etc.,  with 
prayer.  These  exercises  have  made  my  people 
Bible  students.  One  of  these  discourses  I  con- 
sider worth  a  dozen  of  my  set  sermons." 

IV.  In  conclusion  we  offer  the  following  coun- 
sels : 

1.  Begin  the  practice  of  exposition  with  some 
book  or  portion  of  Scripture  which  will  not  take 
too  many  Sundays.  Ruth,  the  Idyll  of  the  harvest 
field ;  the  letter  of  Paul  to  Philemon,  "  the  polite 
Epistle  "  ;  or  the  Messages  to  the  Seven  Churches 
in  the  Revelation,  will  not  tax  you  or  your  hearers 
severely.  Should  you  or  they  show  signs  of  weari- 
ness, suspend  the  expositions,  or,  better  still,  an- 
ticipate possible  languor  by  making  the  series 
occasional. 

2.  What  we  may  perhaps  call  trial-trips  on  the 
great  sea  of  exposition  may  with  advantage  be 
taken  at  other  services  of  the  church  than  those 
of  the  Sunday  worship.  A  preparation  class  for 
teachers,  a  Bible  class  for  young  men,  or  a  series 
of  brief  expository  addresses  continued  over  a 
number  of  weeks  at  the  church  prayer  meeting 
will  give  steadiness  of  flight  and  readiness  of 
resource. 

3.  Learn  how  to  expound  by  a  careful  study  of 


92        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

the  masters  of  the  art.  Mr.  Moody  can  teach  you 
how  to  use  exposition  in  its  simplest  form,  Dr. 
Candlish  how  best  to  open  up  a  doctrine,  Dean 
Stanley  how  to  make  the  history  of  an  ancient 
people  yield  lessons  of  perennial  freshness  ;  under 
Dr.  W.  M.  Taylor  you  may  study  the  best  way  of 
popularizing  Scripture  biography  ;  and  for  the  con- 
tinuous exposition  of  a  book  of  the  Bible  you  may 
take  as  models,  F.  W.  Robertson  on  Genesis,  Dr. 
Maclaren  on  the  Psalms,  Dr.  G.  A.  Smith  on 
Isaiah,  and  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  on  Hebrews.  A  pre- 
liminary exercise  of  much  value  will  be  found  in 
President  Wayland's  exposition  of  "  A  Day  in  the 
Life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 

4.  Be  careful  to  show  results  rather  than  pro- 
cesses. The  scaffolding  of  your  building  has  its 
place  in  the  study,  but  not  in  the  pulpit.  Exe- 
gesis is  not  exposition,  although  it  may  be  essen- 
tial to  it.  Straw  and  clay  are  not  bricks,  although 
the  pyramids  could  not  have  been  reared  without 
them.  We  do  not  find  our  appetite  for  dinner 
stimulated  by  seeing  the  fowls  captured  and  slain 
as  one  does  in  the  Spanish  posada.  Expository 
preaching  becomes  dry  and  sapless  when  we  are 
treated  to  details  which  belong  to  the  preparation 
rather  than  to  the  delivery  of  the  sermon.  The 
learned  Dr.  Duncan,  of  Edinburgh,  began  to  lec- 
ture to  his  congregation  on  the  Shorter  Catechism, 
and  took  three  lectures  over  the  first  half  of  the 
first  question.  He  proposed  to  treat  his  subject 
exhaustively,   but   his  hearers  resented  being  in- 


THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE   TEXT  93 

eluded  in  the  same  heroic  method,  and  so  with  the 
third  Sabbath  the  series  on  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism died  the  death. 

5.  Accustom  yourself,  if  you  do  not  write  your 
expository  sermons  in  full,  to  compose  sentences, 
especially  in  defining  a  doctrine  or  locating  a  place 
or  sketching  a  character.  Make  ample  notes  and 
bring  to  the  pulpit  a  mind  clear,  full,  and  ready. 
Expository  preaching,  as  Tholuck  warns  us,  **  can- 
not be  done  purely  extemporaneously."  Not  at 
once,  remember,  can  skill  in  this  high  order  of 
preaching  be  acquired.  But  he  who  sets  himself 
to  do  it,  '*  ever  learning  in  it,  ever  improving  in  it, 
ever  adding  to  his  treasures  of  exposition  and  illus- 
tration, ever  putting  himself  into  his  lecture,  and 
ever  keeping  himself  out  of  it,  will  never  grow  old, 
he  will  never  become  worked  out,  he  will  never 
weary  his  people,  but  he  will  to  old  age  bring  forth 
his  fruit  in  his  season,  and  his  leaf  shall  not 
wither."  ^ 

1  Dr.  Alexander  Whyte. 


THE  THEME 


SUMMARY 


I.  Definition. 

1.  The  theme  is  the  subject  of  the  discourse. 

2.  Must  be  derived  from  the  text. 

3.  Modified  by  the  purpose  which  the  preacher  has  in  view. 

(1)  He  should  always  have  a  purpose;   (2)  One  theme 
sufficient. 

II.  The  Advantages  of  Having  a  Theme. 

1.  Insures  arrangement  in  the  discourse. 

2.  Promotes  unity  :  (i )  The  theme  to  be  distinctly  announced  ; 

(2)  To  be  evident  throughout  the  discourse  ;  (3)  To  remain 
the  final  and  ruling  impression. 

3.  Gives  compactness  :  (i)  Themes  commended  which  can  be 

distinctly  defined  ;  (2)  Limited  themes  to  be  preferred. 

III.  Sources  from  which  Themes  may  be  Drawn. 

1.  The  Bible. 

2.  Pastoral  work. 

3.  Our  life,  and  special  occasions  in  it. 

4.  Intercourse  with  other  preachers. 

Counsels:  (i)  Have  a  sermon  notebook;  (2)  Gather  mate- 
rials from  all  sources  ;  (3)  Keep  a  list  of  the  themes  preached 
upon. 

Note.     As  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  theme. 

IV.  Characteristics  by  which  Themes  Should  be  Distin- 
guished. 

1.  Clearness:  (i)  In  thought ;  (2)  In  wording. 

2.  Propriety  :  (i)  Avoid  remote  themes  ;  (2)  Maintain  the  true 

level  of  pulpit  discourse. 

3.  Freshness. 

4.  Fullness  and  sufficiency  :   ( i )  Deal  with  important  themes  ; 

(2)  With  the  great  saving  truths  of  Christianity. 
Note.     Courses  of  sermons. 


VII 

THE    THEME 

I.  From  the  text  we  pass  to  the  theme  of  the 
sermon.     This  we  define  as  the  subject  upon  which 
the    preacher    proposes    to    speak, 
drawn  from  a  passage  of  Scripture        ^     ^  ^^^ 
and  modified  by  the  purpose  which  the  preacher 
has  in  view. 

1.  The  theme  is  the  subject  of  the  discourse. 
What  Canon  Liddon  so  often  claimed  for  the 
truth  of  the  gospel  we  must  insist  on  in  the  theme. 
It  must  "know  its  frontiers."  And  in  proportion 
as  the  preacher  keeps  himself  to  his  office  of  mes- 
senger, the  word  of  the  Lord  which  has  come  to  him 
will  give  both  center  and  circumference  to  his  sub- 
ject. The  fact  that  the  sermon  has  a  distinct  and  lim- 
ited theme  makes  it  a  sermon  indeed  ;  that  is,  a 
distinct  and  limited  "  word."  This  it  is  that  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  essay,  which  is  allowed 
to  be  more  discursive.  The  difference  lies  in- 
deed in  the  distinction  between  the  etymology  of 
the  words  "  sermon  "  and  ''  essay." 

2.  The  theme  must  be  derived  from  the  passage 

of  Scripture  which  the  preacher  has  chosen  for 

his  text.     So  dependent  is  the  one  on  the  other 

that  we  may  say  that  the  theme  should  be  evident 

G  97 


98  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

in  the  text  as  one  of  its  ruling  ideas.  The  preacher 
who,  at  a  children's  service,  takes  as  his  theme, 
''  Unpleasant  Children,"  and  as  his  text  the  words, 
''Their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures,"  ^ 
may  have  been  as  unfortunate  in  his  family  as  he 
was  in  his  text ;  he  could  hardly  have  been  more 
so.  To  preach  a  sermon  with  the  title,  ''Death 
the  Interpreter,"  and  the  theme, "  The  advantage 
to  a  great  cause  in  the  death  of  its  great  leaders," 
from  the  sublime  words  of  Jesus,  "  It  is  expedient 
for  you  that  I  go  away,  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you,"^  is  to  merge 
the  special  thought  of  the  text  in  a  commonplace 
generality.  On  the  other  hand,  the  "  Unnatural- 
ness  of  Irreligion"  sets  the  theme  of  the  inquiry, 
"  If  then  I  be  a  father  where  is  mine  honor  ? "  ^  in  a 
fresh  light ;  and  Paul's  exhortation,  "  And  be  not 
fashioned  according  to  this  age,"  ^  is  happily  struck 
off  as  "Enlisted  against  Environment." 

2.  The  theme  should  be  modified  by  the  purpose 
which  the  preacher  has  in  view  in  his  sermon. 

(i)  To  have  a  clearly  defined  purpose  in  your 
mind  in  every  sermon  which  you  prepare  will  save 
it  from  aiming  at  nothing  and  hitting  it  every 
time,^  which  is  the  chief  end,  one  fears,  of  many 
sermons.  "  The  essential  ground  of  a  new  ser- 
mon is  a  new  spirit.  The  preacher  has  a  new 
thought,  sees  the  sweep  of  a  more  comprehensive 
tendency."^ 

1  Isa.  13  :  21.  '  John  16  :  7.  '  Mai.  i  :  6. 

*  Rom.  12  :  2.,  R.  V.  ^  Whately.  ^  Emerson. 


THE    THEME  99 

(2)  A  clear  purpose  will  also  insure  your  having 
only  one  theme  in  your  sermons.  There  may  be 
more  than  one  in  the  text,  but  there  should  not  be 
more  than  one  in  the  sermon.  With  character- 
istic frankness  Professor  Jowett  confessed  that  the 
fault  of  his  sermons  was  that  they  had  **  many 
crude  ideas  and  jump  from  one  to  the  other,  in- 
stead of  a  single  one  well  developed."  That  Arch- 
bishop Magee  was  so  great  a  preacher  was  largely 
due  to  his  observing  the  rule  to  have  one  idea  only 
in  each  sermon,  and  to  arrange  every  sentence 
with  a  view  to  that. 

II.  What  are  the  advantages  of  having  a  theme  ? 
We  mention  three. 

1 .  The  theme  insures  arrangement 
in  the  discourse.     The  theme  is  the 

sermon  condensed ;  the  sermon  is  the  theme  un- 
folded.^ We  would  advise  the  preacher  who  is 
tempted  to  wander  to  write  up  the  theme  of  his  ser- 
mon which  he  is  preparing,  in  some  conspicuous 
place  near  his  desk,  and  now  and  then  to  glance  at  it 
and  ask,  ''Am  I  keeping  close  to  my  subject  .<*" 
In  doing  so  he  may  please  himself  by  recalling  the 
precedent  of  Pliny,  ''  I  look  upon  it  as  the  first 
duty  of  any  writer  frequently  to  throw  his  eyes 
upon  his  title-page  and  to  consider  well  the  sub- 
ject he  proposed  to  himself." 

2.  As  a  second  advantage,  the  theme  promotes 
unity  in  the  discourse. 

(i)  As  soon  as  may  be  let  the  theme  of  the  dis- 

1  Fenelon. 


lOO  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

course  be  distinctly  announced.  Ruskin  quotes 
with  approval  the  opinion  of  men  practised  in 
public  address  that  hearers  ''are  never  so  much 
fatigued  as  by  the  endeavor  to  follow  a  speaker 
who  gives  them  no  clue  to  his  purpose."^  *'A 
good  sermon,"  to  recur  to  Archbishop  Magee, 
"should  be  like  a  wedge,  all  leading  to  a  point." 
More  than  one  point  does  not  insure  workmanlike 
execution  in  either  the  wedge  or  the  sermon. 

(2)  We  gauge  the  excellence  of  a  sermon  among 
other  things  by  this  :  Is  the  theme  evident  through- 
out }  Would  a  late-comer,  arriving  when  the  dis- 
course was  well  under  way,  learn  what  were  the 
text  and  theme  before  he  had  been  listening  five 
minutes }  Statement,  argument,  illustration,  ap- 
plication, do  they  all  bear  closely  upon  the  subject } 
If  they  do,  the  theme  will  remain  as  the  final  and 
ruling  impression  on  the  hearer's  mind. 

(3)  The  theme  when  you  announced  it  amounted 
to  a  promise  made  to  the  congregation.  Have  you 
kept  it  ^  Or  is  there  need  to  apply  to  your  dis- 
course the  Puritan  criticism  in  early  New  England 
days,  "  The  text  was  more  proper  to  the  business 
than  the  sermon."^ 

3.  As  a  third  advantage  in  having  a  theme,  we 
say  that  it  helps  to  give  compactness  to  the  dis- 
course. 

(i)  We  recommend  themes  which  are  capable 

^  "Sesame  and  Lilies,"  p.  6. 

*  "The  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England,"  by  Dr.  John  Brown, 

p.  309. 


THE    THEME  lOI 

of  distinct  definition  and  over  which  the  sermon 
will  knit  itself  closely.  The  great  thing  is,  as 
Napoleon  said,  ^^  Savoir  se  bonier''  (To  know  our 
limitations).  For  lack  of  remembering  his  own 
maxim.  Napoleon  was  flung  back  from  the  icy 
wastes  of  Russia  and  closed  his  days  within  limits 
pathetically  small  for  so  great  a  genius.  Many  a 
preacher  has  also  "found  his  Waterloo"  by  aiming 
at  more  than  he  could  handle.  As  Wesley  puts 
it,  he  grasps  at  the  stars  and  sticks  in  the  mud. 

(2)  So  that  we  should  say  that  themes  which 
are  limited  are  to  be  preferred  to  themes  which 
are  vast.  "It  is  limitation,"  says  Goethe,  "which 
makes  the  poet,  the  artist,  the  man."  Restriction 
of  theme,  however,  is  not  to  be  mistaken  for  petti- 
ness of  theme.  Keep  among  the  great  subjects 
for  pulpit  discourses  ;  only  be  content  with  one 
aspect  of  a  truth  at  a  time.  Restriction  of  theme 
allows  you  to  make  your  sermon  measurably  com- 
plete, it  stimulates  your  own  inventive  powers, 
and  it  quickens  the  interest  of  your  hearers.  The 
greatness  of  England  is  largely  owing  to  its  being 
an  island,  and  a  limited  theme  will  sometimes — to 
carry  the  parallel  one  point  further — give  full  play 
to  your  powers  of  acquisition.  "  The  Goodness  of 
God"  is  too  vast  a  theme.  It  will  beguile  you 
into  vague  rhetoric  and  leave  no  clear  impression ; 
but  "  The  goodness  of  God  as  it  is  exemplified  in 
the  creation  and  sustenance  of  man,"  is  a  subject 
which,  by  limiting  our  field,  stimulates  our  powers 
of  observation. 


I02  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

III.  We  may  now  consider  the  sources  from 
which  themes  may  be  drawn. 

I.  The  Bible  is,  of  course,  the  first 
and  most  fruitful  of  these.  All 
that  needs  to  be  said  here  is  by  way  of  warning 
to  the  preacher  that  neither  texts  nor  themes  are 
to  be  found  by  searching  for  them  in  a  profes- 
sional spirit.  Matthew  Arnold  was  right  in  think- 
ing that  to  have  "to  look  about  for  subjects  was  a 
horrible  thing,  and  when  it  has  to  be  done  week 
after  week  a  recurrent  terror  which  might  well 
drive  one  mad."  But  no  such  fate  awaits  the 
preacher  who  loves  and  lives  with  his  Bible. 
While  he  is  reading  it  aloud  in  the  public  serv- 
ice, in  the  Bible  class,  or  in  the  homes  of  his 
people,  as  well  as  when  he  makes  it  the  man  of 
his  counsel  in  his  own  hours  of  devotion,  the  Bible 
will  furnish  him  with  a  treasury  of  themes. 

2.  A  rich  quarry  will  be  found  by  the  faithful 
minister  in  his  pastoral  work.  Here  experimental 
themes  of  great  acceptance  will  be  suggested  to 
him.  The  sermons  of  William  Jay,  of  Bath,  are 
models  still  of  the  best  kind  of  experimental 
preaching,  and  they  deal  in  the  main  with  just 
such  topics.  ''Domestic  Happiness,"  and  the 
"Disappointments  of  Life,"  and  the  "House  of 
Obed-Edom,"  are  no  doubt  themes  more  homely 
than  heroic,  but  in  this  very  fact  lies  their  excel- 
lence. Treating  of  "  the  perennial  truisms  of  the 
grave  and  the  bedchamber,  of  shifting  fortunes, 
of  the  surprises  of  destiny,  and  the  emptiness  of 


THE    THEME  IO3 

the  answered  vow,"  our  preaching  may  with  ad- 
vantage follow  very  closely  the  lines  of  our  daily 
life.  With  the  alteration  of  one  word  only  we  may 
apply  to  the  preacher  what  John  Morley  has  said 
of  Macaulay :  "  The  great  success  of  the  best  kind 
of  preaching  is  always  the  noble  and  imaginative 
handling  of  the  commonplace." 

3.  We  enlarge  our  view  only  a  little  when  we 
indicate  the  special  occasions  in  our  more  public 
life  as  themes  which  claim  notice  in  the  pulpit. 
As  one  of  a  community,  as  a  citizen  with  a  stake 
in  the  country,  as  a  man  to  whom  nothing  human 
is  foreign,  the  minister  is  called  to  set  the  duties 
and  privileges  of  this  life  of  ours  in  the  light  of 
Christian  training.^  The  main  source  of  the  in- 
teresting in  life,  as  Mr.  John  Burroughs  wisely 
insists,  is  ''human  association.  The  railroad  may 
be  at  war  with  every  feature  of  the  landscape 
through  which  it  passes,  but  it  has  a  tremendous 
human  background."  While  confessing  his  dislike 
to  sensational  preaching,  Emerson  grants  that  it  is 
impossible  "to  pay  no  regard  to  the  day's  events, 
to  the  public  opinion  of  the  times,  to  the  stirring 
shout  of  party,  to  the  calamities  and  prosperities  of 
our  time  and  country."^ 

4.  It  is  obvious  that  sermon  themes  are  often 
suggested  by  intercourse  with  men  who  are  them^ 
selves  preachers.  We  shall  be  more  likely  to  weave 
new  patterns  if  we  compare  the  product  of   our 

^  See  R.  W.  Dale's  "Sermons  on  Special  Occasions." 
2  Emerson  Lectures,  "The  Preacher." 


104  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

several  looms  with  those  of  others  of  like  occupation 
with  ourselves ;  and  still  more  fertile  to  many 
minds  will  be  the  intercourse  with  books.  Spur- 
geon  could  find  a  theme  of  immediate  moment  for 
the  pulpit  in  the  evening  paper,  and  the  preacher 
who  reads  widely  in  history,  philosophy,  poetry, 
will  never  want  for  subjects. 

(i)  In  your  sermon  notebook  jot  down  each 
text  of  Scripture,  each  sermon  germ,  each  theme 
as  it  occurs  to  you. 

(2)  Gather  fish  of  every  kind ;  put  down  every- 
thing that  seems  to  have  "large  and  discoursible 
contents  in  it,  whether  Christian  or  heathen."  ^ 

(3)  Keep  a  list  of  the  subjects  on  which  you 
have  preached,  and  now  and  then  go  through  it. 
By  doing  this  you  will  be  more  likely  to  preach  on 
the  whole  round  of  truth,  not  necessarily  in  any 
systematic  way,  but  rather  as  opportunity  offers. 
Payson  once  made  an  analysis  of  all  the  sermons 
which  he  had  given  to  his  people  for  six  months, 
and  embodied  it  in  one  sermon  which  he  preached 
to  them.  ''They  were  astonished,"  is  his  testi- 
mony ;  ''  and  I  was  astonished  at  the  amount  of 
truth  which  had  been  presented  to  them."  Dr. 
R.  W.  Dale  says  that  he  sometimes  "  drew  up  in 
December  or  January  a  list  of  some  of  the  subjects 
on  which  he  resolved  to  preach  during  the  follow- 
ing twelve  months."  The  retrospect  of  one  of 
these  preachers  and  the  foresight  of  the  other 
are   commended    to   any   young   minister  who  is 

^Dr.  N.  Burton,  Yale  "  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  48. 


THE   THEME  IO5 

troubled,  as  Dean  Stanley  was  when  he  began  his 
work,  with  a  fear  that  he  should  never  find  subjects 
on  which  to  preach.  Times  of  temporary  mental 
impoverishment  or  weariness  will  no  doubt  come, 
but  in  such  a  case  the  preacher  may  infer  that  he 
has  been  working  more  than  he  has  been  thinking 
or  thinking  more  than  he  has  been  working.  A 
glut  in  the  market  is  almost  as  unfavorable  to 
sound  trade  as  are  mills  which  lie  idle.  The  one 
indeed  leads  to  the  other.  What  old  Dr.  Bellamy, 
of  Connecticut,  said  to  the  young  minister  who 
asked  him  what  he  should  do  to  supply  himself 
with  matter  for  his  sermons,  may  be  repeated  here 
with  advantage :  "  Fill  up  the  cask,  fill  up  the 
cask,  fill  up  the  cask ;  and  then  if  you  tap  it  any- 
where you  will  get  a  good  stream.  But  if  you  put 
in  but  little,  it  will  dribble,  dribble,  dribble ;  and 
you  must  tip,  tip,  tip."  The  preacher  who  is  at 
the  same  time  in  touch  with  God  and  man,  "  true 
to  the  kindred  points  of  heaven  and  home,"  has 
no  reason  to  fear  that  the  day  will  come  which 
does  not  bring  with  it  just  the  message  to  which 
it  needs  to  listen. 

IV.  By  what  characteristics  should  the  theme 
be  distinguished  ^ 

We     mention     four:     Clearness,    _, 
^        .  T-      1  1   T-  n  Character- 

Propriety,   Freshness,   and  rullness         istics 

or  Sufficiency. 

I.  Of  these  we  place  Clearness  first.  The  thought 

of   the   theme   should   be   clear.     It    is    like  the 

direction  on  a  letter,  about  which  one  ought  not  to 


I06       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

need  to  ask  twice  what  it  means.  If  you  are 
preaching  on  the  words  of  Paul,  '^  The  love  of 
Christ  constraineth  us,"  ^  your  theme  should  not 
leave  it  in  doubt  whether  the  reference  is  to 
Christ's  love  to  us  or  to  our  love  to  Christ.  Only 
a  preacher  of  a  nebulous  mind  would  announce  as 
the  theme  of  a  discourse  on  the  words  ''  It  pleased 
the  Father  that  in  him  all  fulness  should  dwell," 
"  The  All-comprehendingness  of  the  Divine  Hu- 
manity."^ On  the  other  hand,  a  theme  to  the 
full  as  stimulating  to  intelligent  hearers  is  deduced 
from  Matt.  lo  :  40,  41,  ''The  Principle  of  Moral 
Identification."  Clear  thought  is  especially  nec- 
essary in  themes  dealing  with  the  mysteries  of  life 
and  faith.  But,  indeed,  Carlyle's  maxim  is  every- 
where true  that  ''  the  first  and  last  secret  of  art  is 
to  get  thorough  intelligence  of  the  fact  to  be 
painted,  represented,  or  in  whatever  way  set  forth." 
(2)  Great  care  should  also  be  taken  to  have  the 
wording  of  the  theme  as  clear  as  possible.  The 
preacher  should  practise  himself  in  forms  of  ex- 
pression compact  and  yet  comprehensive.  What 
can  be  the  mental  condition  of  the  preacher  who 
announces  as  the  subject  of  his  morning  sermon, 
'*  The  Magnitude,  Light,  and  Revelations  of  the 
Guiding  Stars  of  Individuals  and  Nations  in  their 
Respective  Firmaments "  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
as  illustrations  of  brief  but  sufiicient  forms,  we 
may  select,  "  God's  Glory  in  Concealing ;  Man's 
Honor  in  Discovering"  (Prov.  25  :  2) ;   "Christ's 

^2  Cor.  5  :  14.         ^  John  Pu'sford,  D.  d.,  on  Col.  i  :  15-20. 


THE    THEME  IO7 

Gift  to  Us,  and  Ours  to  Him  "  (Titus  2  :  14)  ; 
''  The  Tempted  Sinner  and  the  Tempted  Saviour  " 
(Heb.  2  :  18)  ;  "Jesus  at  a  Stand  "  (Mark  10  :  49) ; 
"Robinson  Crusoe's  Text"  (Ps.  50  :  15).  Such 
themes  as  these  are  readily  remembered. 

2.  The  theme  should  further  be  distinguished 
by  propriety.  Let  the  preacher  refrain  from 
choosing  subjects  of  no  present  interest.  Better, 
as  Daniel  Webster  advised,  "  take  a  text  from  St, 
Paul  and  preach   a  sermon  from  the  newspaper." 

(i)  Themes  which  are  remote,  abstruse,  and 
antiquarian  should  be  avoided.  The  state  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  days  of  the  Stuarts  must 
have  been  deplorable  if,  as  a  Royal  Commission 
reported,  one  preacher  invited  his  congregation  to 
investigate  with  him  the  exact  period  at  which 
Isaac  was  weaned  ;  and  another  to  follow  the  train  of 
thought  which  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  pre- 
vious to  the  fall  the  serpent  walked  erect  on  its  tail. 

(2)  There  is  a  certain  recognized  level  for  pulpit 
discourse.  Dp  not  intentionally  sink  below  it. 
Remember  that  what  might  suit  a  Bible  class  may 
be  out  of  place  in  a  sermon.  There  are  too  many 
subjects  announced  in  the  newspapers  as  themes  for 
the  coming  Sunday  which  are  mere  baits  to  catch 
the  curious  and  unwary,  entirely  unworthy  of  any 
Christian  minister.  A  single  word  of  warning 
should  be  sufficient  to  guard  the  preacher  against 
pandering  to  the  gossip  of  the  hour  or  the  un- 
wholesome taste  for  supping  on  horrors.  Irrever- 
ence in  themes  is  never  pardonable.     The  preacher 


1/ 


I08       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

who  discoursing  from  the  words,  "■  Rejoice  because 
your  names  are  written  in  heaven,"  announces  as 
his  text,  ''The  Chirography  of  our  Lord,"  can 
only  have  reached  this  bad  pre-eminence  by  years 
of  rhetorical  audacity. 

3.  At  the  same  time  the  preacher  should  aim  at 
freshness  in  both  the  thought  and  the  wording  of 
his  theme.  ''  Originality  does  not  consist  in  say- 
ing new  things,  but  in  treating  old  things  in  a  new 
way."^  A  careful  exegetical  study  of  Scripture 
will  be  likely  to  contribute  to  this  welcome  element 
of  freshness,  alike  in  the  theme  and  the  sermon. 
The  intense  affection  of  the  father  for  his  son  in 
the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  expressing  itself  in  the 
verb  "kissed"^  gives  us  a  new  and  stronger  view 
of  the  forgiving  love  of  God  for  the  penitent. 
"The  fellowship  of  duty"  is  a  happy  theme  to 
deduce  from  the  words  of  Jesus  to  John  the  Bap- 
tist :  "  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteous- 
ness." ^  "  Wonder  in  the  wrong  place  "  ^  quickens 
our  curiosity  in  a  legitimate  way  ;  "  The  capacity 
of  religion  extirpated  by  disuse,"^  is  Bushnell's 
fresh  setting  of  a  familiar  text ;  and  in  the  broken 
sentence  "We  cannot  but — ,"  ^  Dr.  W.  M.  Taylor 
finds  the  striking  theme,  "The  Irrepressible  in 
Christian  Testimony."  In  themselves  such  themes 
are  almost  sermons. 

4.  Fullness  and  Sufficiency  should  also  character- 
ize the  themes  for  pulpit  discourse. 

1  Goethe.         *  Luke  15  :  20.         ^  Matt.  3  :  15.         *  Luke  8  :  25. 
^Matt.  25  :  28.  ^Acts  4  :  20. 


THE    THEME  IO9 

(i)  No  preacher  worthy  of  the  name  should 
be  afraid  of  dealing  with  important  themes.  Dr. 
Johnson  confessed  that  "  he  always  went  into 
stately  shops  "  in  the  London  which  he  knew  so 
well.  We  may  with  advantage  follow  his  example 
in  the  Bible  which  we  should  know  even  better. 
Colonel  IngersoU's  advice  to  the  speaker  may  be 
quoted  here  :  "  He  should  never  clog  his  discourse 
with  details.  He  should  never  dwell  upon  par- 
ticulars, he  should  touch  universals,  because  the 
great  truths  are  for  all  time."  It  is  obvious  that 
the  preacher  who  discusses  great  subjects,  if  he 
does  it  in  the  right  spirit  and  with  adequate  prepa- 
ration, will  challenge  the  attention  of  his  hear- 
ers. In  a  down-town  chapel  in  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land, Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  through  all  his  long  minis- 
try held  a  great  congregation  of  men  and  women 
who  learned  to  do  their  best  thinking  as  they  lis- 
tened to  him.  He  was  wont  to  warn  preachers 
that  "the  flowering  shrubs  of  Mount  Carmel " 
would  not  keep  their  churches  full.  ''  The  myste- 
ries of  sin  and  love,  of  death  and  judgment,  were 
never  long  abs-?nt  from  his  thoughts,"  and  there- 
fore they  were  constantly  brought  under  the  con- 
sideration of  his  hearers. 

(2)  We  add  that  the  preacher  will  do  well  to 
discourse  frequently  upon  the  great  saving  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion.  One  of  Spurgeon's  last 
testimonies  before  his  brethren  was  in  favor  of 
texts  which,  although  they  are  hackneyed  and  com- 
monplace,   are  still    the   texts  which    bring   men 


no  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

to  Christ.  "  Looking  through  a  longish  ministry," 
he  said,  "he  had  found  more  converts  traceable  to 
such  texts  as  '  This  is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy 
of  all  acceptation,'  etc.,  and  '  God  so  loved  the 
world,'  etc.,  than  to  others,  by  one  hundred  to 
one."  And  his  own  course  was  the  most  eloquent 
comment  on  this  his  final  counsel  to  his  brother 
ministers.  *'  It  was  not  easy  to  keep  to  these  old 
truths;  but  real  genius^ lay  in  making  those  few 
things  in  number  to  be  infinite  in  their  variety ;  in 
setting  them  forth  so  that  there  should  be  suffi- 
cient novelty  and  freshness  to  attract,  while  the 
convincing,  vivifying,  and  sanctifying  truth  should 
be  always  the  same."^ 

Perhaps  this  is  the  best  place  in  which  to  coun- 
sel the  preacher  to  prepare  and  deliver  courses  of 
sermons.  Either  morning  or  evening  he  may  al- 
ways with  advantage  have  such  a  course  running. 
A  course  of  sermons  should  not  be  too  long.  The 
days  are  past  in  which  even  Matthew  Henry 
would  be  tolerated  if  he  preached  for  twenty  years 
on  the  ''Questions  of  the  Bible,"  although  filial 
piety  might  urge  in  extenuation  that  his  father, 
Philip  Henry,  took  forty  sermons  in  order  to  do 
justice  to  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  A 
text  which  at  first  you  prepare  to  deal  with  in  a 
single  sermon  will  often  break  up  into  three  or 
four.  Such  short  courses  are  valuable.  For  ex- 
ample, in  Jude  20,  21,  the  words,  "building  up," 
"praying  in,"  "keep  yourselves,"   "looking  for," 

^  Address,  London  Baptist  Association,  1887. 


THE    THEME  I  I  I 

will  furnish  the  four  progressive  stages  of  a  course 
on  "The  Divine  Life  in  Man."  The  preacher  will 
do  well  rather  to  err  by  being  too  brief  than  by 
being  too  long  in  such  courses.  The  gift  in 
tediousness  which  kindled  Thomas  Fuller's  admir- 
ation for  the  German  divine  who,  proposing  to  ex- 
pound Isaiah,  took  twenty-one  years  over  the  first 
chapter  and  ''yet  finished  it  not,"  is  no  longer 
counted  a  virtue ;  and  we  have  now  no  sympathy 
for  the  rabbi  who  promised  to  write  a  commentary 
upon  part  of  Ezekiel,  but  before  beginning,  "  re- 
quested the  Jews  to  furnish  him  with  three  hun- 
dred tons  of  oil  for  the  use  of  his  lamp  while  he 
should  be  engaged  in  the  work.""  There  was  lit- 
tle danger  of  this  illustrious  scholar  coming  under 
the  condemnation  passed  on  the  Foolish  Virgins. 
Everything  would  go  out  before  his  lamp.  In 
these  degenerate  days  the  congregation  certainly 
would.  A  continuous  exposition  of  any  one  book 
of  the  Bible  may  last  over  many  months,  but  a 
course  which  has  as  its  motif  one  thought  or 
theme  should  be  much  shorter. 

COURSES    OF    SERMONS. 

This  list  may  suggest  as  well  as  enumerate  sub- 
jects that  can  with  advantage  be  arranged  in  brief 
courses.^ 

*' The  Christian  Names  of  the  Bible,"  ''Conver- 
sions by  the  Way"  (in  the  ministry  of  Jesus), 
"Crowds  of  the  Bible,"  "First  Things  in  Human 

*  See  Phelps'  "Theory  of  Preaching,"  p.  6oi. 


112  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

History,"  ''  First  Things  in  the  Christian  Church," 
"  Fools  of  the  Bible,"  ''  The  Home,  "  *'  The  Lord's 
Prayer." 

''  Miracles  by  the  Way  "  (in  the  ministry  of  Jesus), 
"The  Paradoxes  of  the  Gospel,"  "The  Seven  Say- 
ings of  Jesus  on  the  Cross,"  "  Supreme  Realities," 
"The  Ten  Commandments,"  "Things  Said  Against 
Jesus." 


THE  THEME— Continued 


H 


SUMMARY 


The  Development  of  the  Sermon.     Various  methods.     The 
usual  way  of  preparing  a  sermon. 

I.  The  Preparation  for  the  Plan. 

1.  Prehminary     points:     (l)  Define     "development     of    the 

theme"  ;  (2)  The  germ  found  in  the  first  idea;  (3)  The 
theme  grows  during  the  gathering  and  arrangement  of 
material;  (4)  In  what  this  process  consists  ;  (5)  Notes  to 
be  made  during  the  process  ;  (6)  How  the  theme  unfolds 
itself;  (7)  Let  there  be  no  haste  to  make  a  plan. 

2.  Stages  in  the  development  of  the  theme:  (l)  Examine  the 

text;  (2)  Read  the  context;  (3)  Compare  with  parallel 
passages;  (4)  Read  up  the  literature  of  the  text;  (5) 
Avail  yourself  of  illustrative  aids. 

II.  The  Preparation  of  the  Plan. 

1.  What  has  already  been  done. 

2.  The  plan  may  now  be  sketched  out. 

3.  This  should  be  done  with  much  care. 

4.  Advantages  of  a  full  plan. 

Conclusion.  The  plan  represents  conscientious  work  in  think- 
ing the  subject  through.  It  is  of  more  real  value  than  even  the 
writing  of  the  sermon  in  full. 


VIII 

THE    THEME    (CONTINUED) 

When  one  of  our  foremost  preachers  ^  writes  to 
a  correspondent  that  he  has  really  nothing  to  say 
about  his  way  of  making  sermons 
that  could  profit  others,  he  expresses  "^the^Theme^ 
a  truth  which  the  student  of  homi- 
letics  will  do  well  to  lay  to  heart.  "  Not  every 
monk  can  walk  in  Luther's  shoes,"  but  the 
humblest  may  walk  in  his  own.  Every  preacher 
must  find  by  patient  continuance  and  growing  ex- 
perience what  is  the  best  way  in  which  he  can 
prepare  for  the  pulpit.  Dr.  Guthrie  fixed  on  a 
text,  and  then  put  on  paper,  "just  as  they  occurred, 
all  thoughts,  sentiments,  figures,  and  illustrations 
that  seemed  pertinent  to  the  subject  in  hand." 
Having  provided  a  store  of  matter  he  arranged  it 
under  appropriate  heads  and  proceeded  to  the 
proper  work  of  composition.  Archbishop  Magee 
never  looked  about  him  for  suggestions  until  he 
had  sketched  the  idea  of  his  sermon.  Spurgeon, 
on  the  contrary,  having  fixed  upon  his  text,  read 
widely  in  the  commentaries  upon  it.  Dr.  Mac- 
laren  knows  no  method  except  to  think  about  a 
text  until  he  has  something  to  say  about  it,  ''  and 

^  Dr.  Alexander  Maclaren. 

"5 


Il6  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

then  go  and  say  it  with  as  little  thought  of  self  as 
possible."  Beecher  was  always  preparing  sermons, 
but  the  special  subject  for  the  next  Sunday  was 
not  decided  upon  until  Saturday ;  and  during  an 
hour  and  a  half  of  undisturbed  study  on  Sunday 
morning  **  the  vision  stood  before  him,  and  as 
hastily  as  possible  he  sketched  the  outline." 

The  methods  pursued  by  other  preachers,  and 
especially  by  such  preachers  as  these,  are  of  little 
service  to  us  ;  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  follow- 
ing steps  mark  the  development  of  most  sermons. 
The  text  occurs  to  us  in  the  course  of  our  ordinary 
reading  or  during  our  pastoral  work ;  oftener  than 
not  the  theme  is  suggested  simultaneously — but  as 
a  suggestion  only,  needing  development  and  defi- 
nition. These  follow  as  the  reward  of  careful 
study;  and  out  of  them  grows  the  sermon  plan. 
Not  until  the  plan  is  clearly  laid  out  should  the 
work  of  composition  begin ;  and  when  composed, 
whatever  method  the  preacher  adopts,  the  sermon 
should  be  ready  for  delivery.  It  will  be  seen  from 
this  analysis  of  the  growth  of  the  sermon  that  the 
plan  is  central ;  on  it  converge  the  lines  of  prepa- 
ration, while  from  it  proceed  the  lines  of  delivery. 

We  will  now  consider  the  preparation  for  the 
plan,  and  the  preparation  of  the  plan. 

I.  The  preparation  for  the  plan.  This  consists 
in  a  thorough  development  of  the  theme  or  thought 
in  the  text  which  we  propose  to  use. 

I.  The  following  preliminary  points  should  be 
carefully  noted. 


THE    THEME  I  1/ 

(i)  By  the  development  of  the  theme  we  mean 
the  growth  of  the  subject-matter  of  the  sermon 
as  the  result  of  a  patient  and  generous  study  of 
the  text.  "  By  continually  thinking  upon  it,"  was 
what  Sir  Isaac  Newton  answered  when  he  was 
asked  how  he  discovered  the  true  system  of  the 
universe.  This  is  the  secret  which  the  preacher 
also  must  acquire.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  of 
earnest  original  thought. 

(2)  The  germ  of  this  development  you  will  find 
in  your  first  idea,  in  that  which  first  suggested 
the  text.  Carefully  note  this,  for  if  it  turn  out  to 
be  the  thought  of  your  text  you  are  bound  to 
make  it  the  thought  of  your  sermon  also. 

(3)  The  growth  of  the  theme  takes  place  dur- 
ing the  process  of  gathering  and  arranging  your 
materials. 

(4)  This  process  must  consist  in  a  thorough 
analysis  of  the  text  and  the  theme,  and  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  lie  about  them — what  we  may 
call  their  environment. 

(5)  Upon  a  large  sheet  of  paper  make  your 
notes,  as  you  are  gathering  and  classifying  your 
materials. 

(6)  While  thus  engaged,  be  on  the  alert  to 
detect  the  unfolding  of  the  theme  and  its  logical 
and  orderly  arrangement  in  a  plan.  Very  often 
this  development  will  also  suggest  to  you  the 
natural  transitions  from  one  division  of  the  dis- 
course to  the  next.  The  management  of  his 
transitions    marks  the  practised  preacher.     They 


Il8  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

are  the  bridges  of  discourse,  and  by  them  he 
passes  from  one  point  to  another,  while  for  lack  of 
them  the  preacher  finds  himself  trembling  on  the 
edge  of  some  great  gulf  with  no  means  to  get 
across  to  his  next  thought.  Into  that  gulf  many 
a  hapless  sermon  plunges  and  is  lost. 

(7)  Do  not  be  in  any  haste  to  make  your  plan. 
Let  the  material  accumulate  until  you  have 
enough  and  to  spare.  "  I  can  always  work,"  said 
Tennyson,  "when  I  see  my  subject,  though  some- 
times I  spend  three-quarters  of  a  year  without 
putting  pen  to  paper."  We  cannot  afford  to 
wait  so  long  as  this,  but  we  must  learn  to  make  no 
definite  and  final  plan  until  we  also  see  our  subject. 

2.  We  can  now  proceed  to  consider  the  various 
stages  in  the  development  of  the  theme. 

(i)  First,  then,  examine  the  text.  Compare  the 
Authorized  version  with  the  Revised,  turn,  if  you 
can,  to  the  original,  and  at  all  events  with  the  use 
of  a  good  Critical  Commentary^  analyze  each  word 
and  phrase  of  importance  ;  find  its  meaning  and 
usage,  and  how  it  is  employed  in  this  precise 
passage.  With  more  force  than  elegance  Spurgeon 
used  to  say,  "  I  like  to  lie  and  soak  in  my  text." 

(2)  Then,  secondly,  read  the  context.  It  may 
be  limited  to  a  few  verses,  it  may  be  a  whole  chap- 
ter, but  in  any  case  take  the  time  necessary  to  get 
it  in  outline  before  your  mind.  We  need  not  only 
textual  but  also  contextual  preaching.  As  Thomas 
Goodwin,  the  Puritan,  a  prince  of  pulpit  exegesis, 

^See  e.  g.^  Bengal's  "Gnomon,"  on  Luke  2  :  29. 


THE    THEME  I  1 9 

says,  "  The  context  of  a  Scripture  is  half  its  inter- 
pretation. If  a  man  would  open  a  place  of  Scrip- 
ture, he  should  do  it  rationally ;  he  should  go  and 
consider  the  words  before  and  the  words  after." 

(3)  As  a  third  step,  compare  the  text  with  par- 
allel passages  which  will  often  explain,  limit,  illus- 
trate, and  light  up  your  text.  A  trustworthy  Ref- 
erence Bible,  a  Scripture  text  book,  and  Young's 
Concordance,  will  be  of  service  here. 

(4)  Then  fourthly,  you  will  do  well  to  read  up 
the  literature  of  the  text,  as  it  may  be  found  in 
commentaries,  in  theological  and  historical  works 
bearing  upon  it,  and  in  books  of  travel  and  re- 
search such  as  will  give  you  local  color.  Your 
purpose  in  doing  this  is  to  get  into  the  mind  of 
the  sacred  writer  and  think  his  thoughts  after 
him. 

(5)  And  as  a  last  point,  we  recommend  the 
preacher  to  assist  the  development  of  his  theme 
by  illustrative  aids.  Note  the  pictures  in  the 
words  of  the  text  and  context.  Here  you  will 
find  your  happiest  illustrations.  The  Interleaved 
Bible  in  which  you  are  storing  the  results  of 
your  reading  and  observation  will  come  into  use 
now.  Without  falling  back  on  cyclopaedias  of 
illustration — which  are  to  the  preacher's  own  col- 
lection what  the  hotel  is  to  the  home — you  will 
have  at  hand  a  treasure-house  of  original  matter, 
the  only  key  to  which  you  retain  in  your  own 
possession. 

Such  are  the  processes  by  which  the  theme  is 


120  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

developed.  We  need  only  add  that  the  order  here 
indicated  is  not  arbitrary.  In  the  fervor  of  dis- 
covery, in  what  Magee  calls,  v^^hen  dealing  with 
this  subject  of  the  preparation  of  the  sermon, 
''  that  most  intoxicating  of  all  pleasures,  the  sense 
of  power,"  the  preacher  will  often  find  more  than 
one  of  these  lines  opening  before  him.  But  he 
will  soon  accustom  himself  to  give  to  each  its 
place ;  his  sheet  of  paper  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  hours  will  be  covered  with  notes;  and  loom- 
ing here  and  there  like  mountain  peaks  in  the 
early  morning  he  will  see  the  points  of  his  dis- 
course rising  into  the  sunshine. 

1.  During  the  process  of  study  which  we  have 
been  following  the  preacher  has  got  at  the  mean- 
ing of  his  text,  he  has  freed  it  from 

ThePrepara-   superfluous   matter,   formulated    his 
tion  of  the      ^,  ■,■  .-     .-,  i  ,     i 

Plan  theme  distmctly,   and  prepared  the 

way  for  a  logical  and  effective  ser- 
mon plan. 

2.  All  that  now  remains  to  be  done  is  to  sketch 
this  plan  out.  Too  much  attention  can  hardly  be 
given  to  this.  "  Eloquence  and  manner  are  the 
hammer  that  sends  the  wedge  home,  but  the  sine 
qua  non  is  the  disposition  of  the  parts,  the  shape."  ^ 

3.  The  plan  should  be  worked  over  until  it  is  so 
complete  that  if  necessary  it  could  be  preached 
from  without  writing  the  sermon  in  full.  The 
preacher  may  take  a  hint  from  the  novelist.  A 
successful  story-teller  of  our  own  times  would  take 

^  Magee. 


THE   THEME  121 

about  three  weeks  of  very  close  application  in 
composing  the  plot,  and  until  the  whole  of  this 
was  settled  upon  not  one  word  of  the  novel  was 
written.  "  Finished  writing  my  plot,"  we  read  in 
George  Eliot's  journal,  "of  which  I  must  make 
several  other  draughts  before  I  begin  to  write  my 
book."  She  aptly  says  elsewhere,  ''  Construction 
once  done  serves  as  good  wheels  for  progress." 
"  My  book  is  finished,"  writes  Emile  Zola,  when 
he  has  accumulated  something  like  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  pages  of  notes  ;  "  I  have  only  to 
write  it."  As  with  the  novelist  so  with  the 
preacher. 

4.  The  ease  and  effectiveness  of  the  written 
sermon  much  depends  upon  careful  preparation 
and  a  full  plan.  I  have  before  me  as  I  write  two 
plans  by  very  different  preachers,  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  Cardinal  Manning.  The  notes  in 
each  case  are  precisely  as  they  left  the  preacher's 
hand;  indeed  both  of  them  were  carried  into  the 
pulpit  and  used  there.  What  they  have  in  com- 
mon is  an  almost  excessive  minuteness  in  the 
elaboration  of  the  theme.  Beecher's^  might  serve 
as  the  table  of  contents  of  a  volume ;  Manning's,^ 
which  was  composed  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  in 
fine,  rapid  handwriting,  as  the  outline  for  a  com- 
mentary. And  I  instance  these  two  sermons  be- 
cause of  the  need  that  there  is  for  insisting  upon 
the  importance  of  a  well-studied  plan.  If  the 
line   of  study  which  we  have  been  suggesting  be 

1  Gen.  12  :  1-3.  '  I  John  4  :  19. 


122       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

followed,  the  sermon  plan  will  be  sure  to  represent 
honest  and  conscientious  work  in  thinking  the  sub- 
ject through.  It  will  illustrate  the  force  of  Emer- 
son's remark,  ''  Next  to  the  knowledge  of  the  fact 
and  its  law  is  method,  which  constitutes  the  genius 
and  efficiency  of  all  remarkable  men."  Remem- 
ber Bourdaloue's  maxim :  "  I  can  excuse  a  bad 
sermon  sooner  than  a  bad  plan,"  and  the  excellent 
epigrams  of  a  later  preacher  :  ^  ''  Plan  intensifies. 
Assurance  of  a  purpose  makes  our  work  solid  and 
consecutive.  Plan  concentrates  energies  as  a  burn- 
ing-glass does  sunbeams.  Shiftlessness  is  only 
another  name  for  aimlessness.  Purpose  directs 
energy,  and  purpose  makes  energy.  We  can  be- 
cause we  think  we  can." 

Without  instituting  an  invidious  comparison  be- 
tween the  two,  I  believe  that  the  preparation  of 
the  plan  is  of  more  real  value  than  the  writing  out 
of  the  sermon  ;  and  this  because  the  plan  repre- 
sents thought,  the  composition  expression.  Who 
does  not  envy  John  Foster  when  he  could  truth- 
fully say  of  his  own  admirable  style,  *'  It  is  simply 
and  absolutely  formed  for  the  thought ;  is  adapted 
and  flexible  to  it ;  and  is  taken  out  of  the  whole 
vocabulary  of  our  language  just  on  purpose  for  the 
thoughts  and  molded  to  their  very  shape"  .'*  Mani- 
festly there  must  be  thought  worthy  of  such  ex- 
pression before  there  can  be  expression  adequate 
to  such  thought. 

1  Dr.  Parkhurst. 


THE  THEME— Continued 


SUMMARY 


Sermons  may  be   arranged  according   to  the  character  of  their 
theme. 

I.  Doctrinal  Sermons. 

1.  What  is  doctrinal  preaching?     Negatively:   (i)  Does  not 

oppose  the  inculcation  of  morals;  (2)  Not  necessarily 
apologetic;  (3)  Not  necessarily  polemical.  Positively:  (i) 
Emphatically  didactic  ;   (2)  Philosophical;  (3)  Practical. 

2.  "Why  doctrinal  preaching  is  important :  ( i )  In  the  interests 

of  preaching  itself;  (2)  In  the  interests  of  the  preacher; 
(3)  In  the  interests  of  a  sound  and  inteUigent  belief.  The 
decay  of  such  preaching  leads  to  (a)  The  preaching  of  me- 
chanical formulas,  or  [d)  Preaching  sermons  without  a 
Christian  basis  ;  (4)  In  the  interests  of  moral  reformation. 

II.  Ethical  Sermons,     Definition.     Classification. 

1.  Sermons  enforcing  personal  duties:   (i)  Demanded  by  the 

claims  of  religion  ;  ( 2 )  And  by  right  living. 

2.  Sermons  enforcing  relative  duties. 

III.  Historical  Sermons. 

1.  True  to  the  method  of  Scripture. 

2.  In  sympathy  with  our  own  instincts. 

3.  On  a  line  with  prevailing  taste. 

Note.     Care  to  be  taken  in  this  kind  of  preaching. 

IV.  Experimental  Sermons. 

Why  seldom  heard  of;  Value. 

Four-fold  aim  :  To  stimulate,  comfort,  correct,  instruct. 

V.  Occasional  Sermons. 

Classification.     Importance. 


IX 

THE    THEME    (CONTINUED) 

Sermons  may  conveniently  be  arranged  on  the 
basis  of  the  character  of  their  themes.     Although 
it  should  be  understood  that  the  ser- 
mon need  not  confine  itself  rigidly  Classification 

°  -^  of  Sermons 
within  the  limits  of  any  one  arbi- 
trary division  to  the  neglect  of  others  which  ought 
to  be  considered,  yet  such  a  classification  has  its 
advantages.  We  suggest  the  following  grouping 
as  sufficient  for  our  purpose :  Doctrinal,  ethical, 
historical,  experimental,  and  occasional  sermons. 

I.   Doctrinal  Sermons. 

I.  We  begin  by  asking,  what  do  we  understand 
by  doctrinal  preaching  ? 

Let  it  be  made  clear  at  once  that  there  are  cer- 
tain things  which  we  do  not  mean. 

(i)  For  example  :  Doctrinal  preaching  neither 
ignores  nor  opposes  the  inculcation  of  morality. 
Who  indeed  can  say  where  dogma  ends  and  moral- 
ity begins  ?  ^  Should  not  a  doctrine  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  every  duty,  and  a  duty  rise  as  the 
superstructure  from  every  doctrine  ?  ^  ''  Treat  doc- 
trines practically,"  counsels  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander, 
"and  experience  argumentatively."     What  moral 

1  Lane,  "Life  of  Alex.  Vinet,"  p.  147.  ^  Prov.  23  :  7. 

125 


126  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

applications  are  more  convincing  than  those  of 
Jonathan  Edwards  ?  Yet  they  are  found  in  the 
very  sermons  which  are  most  powerful  in  their 
doctrinal  basis/ 

(2)  Nor  again,  is  doctrinal  preaching  necessa- 
rily apologetic.  The  protest  of  Robert  Hall  was 
needed  more  in  his  day  than  it  is  in  our  own,  and 
yet  it  is  in  place  still :  "  It  is  degrading  to  the  dig- 
nity of  a  revelation  established  through  a  succes- 
sion of  ages  by  indisputable  proof  to  be  adverting 
every  moment  to  the  hypothesis  of  its  being  an 
imposture ;  to  be  inviting  every  insolent  sophist 
to  wrangle  with  us  about  the  title,  when  we  should 
be  cultivating  the  possession."^  "Christianity," 
observed  George  III.,  when  he  was  presented  with 
Bishop  Watson's  "Apology  for  Christianity," 
"needs  no  apology";  and  Maurice  is  no  doubt 
right  when  he  insists  that  "  theology  is  made  the 
weakest  of  all  studies  because  its  basis  is  laid — as 
the  basis  of  no  other  study  is  laid — in  apology." 

(3)  Still  less  is  doctrinal  preaching  necessarily 
polemical.  Accustom  yourself  in  preaching  to 
explain.  Make  your  hearers  understand  the  mat- 
ter in  hand  by  means  of  clear  statement.^  Then, 
if  it  still  be  necessary  to  do  so,  argue.  If  you 
must  deal  with  a  doctrine  polemically  or  apolo- 
getically, preach  it  historically ;  find  its  basis  in 
Scripture,  trace  its  subsequent  course,  and  in  this 

'^  E.  g.,  sermon  on  Acts  16  :  29,  30. 

2  "Works,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  299. 

^  See  Dean  Swift's  "Letter  to  a  Young  Clergyman." 


THE   THEME  I  27 

way  lay  a  firm  foundation  for  any  conclusions  which 
you  may  wish  to  draw.^ 

What  then  is  doctrinal  preaching  ?  Passing  now 
to  the  positive  answer  to  our  question,  we  reply : 

(i)  It  is,  first,  emphatically  didactic.  It  is  fit- 
ted to  instruct.^  If  it  follows  a  line  of  biblical  in- 
duction, gathering  and  grouping  all  the  passages 
which  bear  upon  a  certain  doctrine,  the  true  doc- 
trinal sermon  does  so  for  the  sake  of  its  practical 
application  to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  hearers.^ 
Doctrinal  preaching  should  therefore  be  scriptural. 
All  the  doctrines  with  which  the  preacher  needs  to 
deal  he  must  find  in  the  Bible,  and  he  will  do  well 
to  confine  himself  in  the  main  to  the  doctrines  on 
which  the  Bible  lays  the  most  emphasis. 

(2)  At  the  same  time  it  should  be  philosophical, 
inasmuch  as  it  treats  of  the  laws  by  which  we  are 
governed.  Almost  all  great  doctrinal  preachers 
have  been  metaphysicians,  and  indeed  some  of 
them  have  been  tempted  to  make  their  metaphys- 
ics prominent  at  the  expense  of  their  Bibles. 
We  are  set  in  the  pulpit  not  so  much  to  defend 
the  ways  of  God  to  men,  as  to  declare  them.  The 
preacher,  especially  if  he  has  only  lately  exchanged 
the  air  of  the  schools  for  the  freer  breezes  of  every- 
day life,  must  guard  himself  against  the  use  of 
philosophical,  metaphysical,  and  even  theological 
terms  in  the  pulpit.  Such  phrases  as  "  original 
sin,"  "total  depravity,"  "  the  imputation  of  Adam's 

1  Dale,  "Yale  Lectures,"  pp.  71,  72.        ^  2  Tim.  3  :  16,  17. 
'  Taylor,  "  Yale  Lectures,"  p.  155. 


128       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

sin  to  his  posterity,"  and  such  terms  as  "the  Trin- 
ity," "  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  mean 
little  or  nothing  to  our  hearers.  As  well  talk  of 
"  consubstantiation,"  or  "monism,"  or  "trichot- 
omy." Use  great  plainness  of  speech.  Cause  the 
people  to  understand,  as  did  Ezra  from  his  pulpit 
of  wood.^  Translate  the  terminology  of  the  schools 
into  the  vernacular  of  Scripture.  If  it  will  not 
bear  translation,  it  will  not  bear  preaching.  You 
will  do  well  to  remember  that  alike  in  its  vocabu- 
lary and  in  its  methods  of  statement  biblical  the- 
ology is  the  true  theology  for  us  to  preach. 

(3)  If  doctrinal  preaching  must  be  scriptural 
and  philosophical,  it  must  also  be  practical.  Be- 
ware then,  of  simply  exposing  error,  for  "  even 
when  conversed  with  for  good  ends  error  is  per- 
turbing, paining,  defiling,  misleading,  and  wasteful 
of  time."^  See  to  it  that  to  every  setting  forth 
of  doctrine  there  is  a  practical  application.  You 
may  find  it  hard  to  mingle  doctrine  and  practice 
in  due  proportion  in  your  preaching;  but  this  is 
what  you  need  to  do.  The  late  Prof.  Elmslie 
"  seldom  preached,"  we  are  told,  "  on  the  formal 
doctrines  of  theology,  but  they  were  latent  and 
implied  in  every  sermon  he  delivered."  Longfel- 
low hears  a  discourse  two  hours  long  on  the  Atone- 
ment, and  confesses  himself  quite  bewildered  after 
the  first  five  minutes  ;  and  there  is  a  touch  of  not 
unkindly  sarcasm  in  the  added  words  in  his  jour- 
nal, "We  came  out  in  a  drenching  rain." 

1  Neh.  8  :  8.  2  j^  VV.  Alexander. 


THE   THEME  129 

2.  Let  US  pass  on  to  inquire  why  doctrinal 
preaching  is  important  ? 

(i)  The  history  of  the  pulpit  furnishes  us  with 
our  first  answer.  It  is  important  in  the  interests 
of  preaching  itself.  "  Through  constant  changes 
in  the  direction  of  interests,  theological  themes 
remain  the  themes  of  supreme  interest  to  thinking 
men."  ^  In  the  hands  of  a  skilled  and  competent 
preacher  doctrinal  preaching  is  of  all  preaching 
the  most  popular.  The  throngs  never  tired  of 
gathering  to  hear  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  perhaps  the 
most  doctrinal  preacher  of  our  century.  From 
the  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  Birmingham  Dr. 
Dale  preached  doctrinal  sermons,  and  when  he 
was  warned  at  the  outset  that  his  congregation 
would  not  stand  it,  he  answered  sturdily,  ''  They 
will  have  to  stand  it."  They  stood  it  so  well  that 
he  spent  his  life  with  that  one  church,  and  never 
preached  more  doctrinally  or  with  greater  accept- 
ance than  at  the  last.  We  may  grant  that  to 
preach  doctrine  well  is  not  easy,  but  the  pulpit  has 
always  declined  under  easy  preaching  as  it  has 
always  risen  in  power  and  importance  when  it  has 
braced  itself  to  grapple  with  great  subjects. 

(2)  It  is  inevitable  therefore  that  doctrinal  preach- 
ing should  be  important,  in  the  interests  of  the 
preacher.  It  will  be  of  immense  spiritual  benefit 
to  him  to  be  moving  among  high  things.  He  will 
not  only  feel  what  Dean  Stanley  called  ''  the  con- 
solidating   effect    of    an    arduous    and    sustained 

^  President  Eliot,  Harvard  University. 
I 


130  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

effort,"  but,  better  far,  he  will  share  the  experience 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  when  he  felt  his  heart 
growing  cold  used  to  regain  the  spiritual  glow  by 
reading  for  an  hour  in  the  deepest  doctrines. 
**  Thicken  your  exhortation  with  doctrine,"  Thomas 
Goodwin,  the  Puritan,  said  to  the  Oxford  students 
of  his  day ;  and  this  because  the  preacher  himself 
needs  to  strike  his  roots  deep  in  the  great  truths 
of  his  religion.  An  Oxford  professor  of  our  own 
time — himself  a  preacher — advises  his  brethren  to 
read  scientific  theology  for  an  hour  at  least  every 
day,  instead  of  **  running  from  house  to  house  for 
committee  and  other  meetings."^  *'We  shall 
never  have  great  preachers,"  said  Spurgeon,  ''till 
we  have  great  divines."^ 

(3)  We  add  that  doctrinal  preaching  is  important 
in  the  interests  of  a  sound  and  intelligent  belief. 
History  bears  us  out  in  saying  that  the  decay  of 
doctrinal  preaching  is  invariably  followed  by  the 
decay  of  evangelical  faith.  It  leads  to  one  of 
two  extremes :  Sometimes  to  the  preaching  of 
mechanical  dogmatic  formulas,  and  to  the  use  of 
words  which  once  glowed  with  the  fervor  and  pas- 
sion of  personal  experience,  but  out  of  which  the 
fires  have  now  died,  leaving  in  their  stead  only 
gray  and  melancholy  ashes.  The  phrase  ''only 
believe,"  for  example,  if  it  fail  to  mean  to  us  what 
it  meant  to  Wesley  and  to  Whitefield,  means  little 
or  nothing.     There  is  no  virtue  in  our  using  his- 

1  Professor  Shuttleworth. 
*  "Lectures  to  My  Students,"  Series  I.,  Lecture  X. 


THE   THEME  131 

toric  terms  which  were  formerly  the  battle  cries  of 
spiritual  liberty  unless  our  hearts  also  burn  with 
some  measure  of  the  faith  which  once  exulted  in 
them.  A  bare  recital  of  the  mere  externals  of 
Christ's  earthly  life  is  not  preaching  the  gospel. 
*'  The  gospel  becomes  a  gospel  by  the  presence  of 
the  doctrine  as  touching  the  person  of  Jesus,  that 
he  is  the  Son  of  God ;  as  touching  his  death  that 
he  is  the  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world."  ^ 

At  other  times  the  decline  of  doctrinal  preach- 
ing leads  to  substituting  for  it  sermons  which  in- 
culcate moral  duties  indeed,  but  do  so  without  any 
Christian  basis.  The  orthodoxy  of  the  Protestant 
church  of  Germany  in  the  last  century,  for  ex- 
ample, by  becoming  only  dogmatic,  drove  multi- 
tudes of  thoughtful  men  into  rationalism,  because 
at  least  that  did  insist  on  morality  of  life  as  of 
prime  moment.  Before  long  this,  in  its  turn, 
became  powerless  to  influence  conduct,  and  so 
prepared  the  way  for  the  message  of  Schleier- 
macher,  welcome  as  the  first  breath  of  spring,  as  it 
insisted  on  the  vital  connection  between  true 
morality  and  a  conscious  dependence  on  the  living 
God.  Ignoring  the  natural  enmity  of  the  mind  to 
God,  Thomas  Chalmers,  at  the  beginning  of  his 
ministry,  prosecuted,  as  he  says,  the  actual  though 
undesigned  experiment  of  preaching  a  high  code 
of  morality,  pressing  on  his  people  "  reformation 
of  honor  and  truth  and  integrity."  But  he  con- 
fesses,  "  I  never  heard  of  any  such  reformations 

^  Dr.  Maclaren. 


132  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

having  been  effected  amongst  them."  Not  till 
he  insisted  on  the  alienation  of  the  heart  from  God, 
and  urged  upon  their  acceptance  the  free  offer  of 
forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  with  the 
kindred  doctrines  of  grace,  did  he  hear  of  any- 
moral  betterment  among  his  hearers.  "  You  have 
taught  me,"  he  said  in  his  farewell  words  to  his 
congregation  at  Kilmeny,  *'  that  to  preach  Christ 
is  the  only  effective  way  of  preaching  morality  in 
all  its  branches ;  and  out  of  your  humble  cottages 
have  I  gathered  a  lesson  which  I  pray  God  that  I 
may  be  enabled  to  carry  with  all  its  simplicity  into 
a  wider  theatre."  ^ 

(4)  After  what  has  been  said  it  needs  scarcely 
be  added  that  doctrinal  preaching  is  important  in 
the  interests  of  moral  reformation.  Always  the 
rise  and  fall  of  morality  has  coincided  with  the 
rise  and  fall  of  religion.  This  has  been  the  case 
in  all  ages,  and  in  all  lands.  ^ 

"Ethical  injunctions  will  not  save  man  ;  the  ex- 
periment has  been  widely  tried,  and  it  has  always 
been  a  sad  and  conspicuous  failure."^  We  may 
question  the  fairness  of  the  comparison  which 
Luther  institutes  between  himself  and  his  fellow- 
reformers,  but  we  cannot  question  the  truth  which 
it  expressed.  That  is  secure  from  challenge . 
"  Wicliffe  and  Huss,"  he  says,  **  assailed  the  im- 
moral conduct  of  papists  ;  but  I  chiefly  oppose  and 

1  Hanna,  "Life  of  Chalmers,"  Vol.  I.,  Chaps.  XV.,  XVI. 

"Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  "  Christianity  and  Ethics,"  Lecture  IV. 

^  Dr.  Behrends,  "Yale  Lectures,"  Lecture  II. 


THE    THEME  133 

resist  their  doctrine.  I  affirm  roundly  and  plainly 
that  they  preach  not  the  truth — to  this  I  am  called. 
When  I  can  show  that  the  papists'  doctrine  is  false, 
then  I  can  easily  prove  that  their  manner  of  life 
is  evil.  For  when  the  word  remanis  pure,  the 
manner  of  life,  though  something  therein  be  amiss, 
will  be  pure  also."  ^ 

II.  In  the  Ethical  Sermon,  to  which  we  next 
turn,  special  stress  is  laid  on  the  moral  side  of  the 
subject  to  be  treated.  While  the  doctrinal  basis 
is  either  implied  or  briefly  expounded,  the  main 
body  of  the  discourse  concerns  itself  with  the 
ethical  aspects  of  the  theme.  How  important 
is  this  group  of  sermons  we  shall  better  under- 
stand by  attempting  to  classify  them. 

I.  First,  then,  come  sermons  which  enforce 
personal  duties. 

(i)  The  claims  of  religion  demand  that  such 
sermons  shall  be  preached.  It  is  a  fatal  mistake, 
and  yet  one  which  is  very  prevalent,  to  affirm  that 
Christianity  has  little  to  do  with  practical  morality. 
To  what  disastrous  consequences  this  error  leads 
we  have  already  seen.  Yet  it  is  favored  by  two 
opposing  classes  of  men  :  by  the  unbeliever,  who 
has  a  vague  impression  that  religion  has  to  do  ex- 
clusively with  our  duties  to  God ;  and  by  the  pro- 
fessing Christian,  who  dreads  a  paralysis  of  faith  as 
the  result  of  insisting  upon  works. ^ 

But  this  conception  of  the  limits  of  religion  is 

1  Luther,  ♦«  Table  Talk,  "  No.  CCCCXV. 
2  Preface  to  "Sermons,"  by  Sydney  Smith,  i8oi. 


134  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

untrue  to  fact.  As  we  have  said  in  considering 
doctrinal  sermons,  no  divorce  should  be  proclaimed 
between  faith  and  practice  in  the  preaching  of 
Christian  truth. ^  Let  us  set  the  matter  in  its  true 
light  by  preaching  upon  personal  duties.  Of 
Philip  Henry,  his  son  Matthew  says  that  he  was 
*'  very  large  and  particular  in  pressing  second-table 
duties."  This  insistence  on  the  aspect  of  the 
decalogue  which  looks  toward  man  is  essential  if 
justice  is  to  be  done  to  its  God  ward  aspect  also. 
So  Thomas  Arnold  counsels  his  hearers :  "  Begin 
by  regarding  everything  from  the  moral  point  of 
view,  and  you  will  end  by  believing  God." 

(2)  Nor  are  such  sermons  any  less  important  if 
we  widen  our  view  and  include  right  living  gener- 
ally. How  intensely  practical  must  have  been  the 
preaching  of  Paul  when  it  led  the  sorcerers  of 
Ephesus  at  a  great  cost  to  themselves  to  burn 
their  books  of  magic,^  and  left  to  Onesimus,  the 
runaway  slave,  no  other  alternative  but  to  go  back 
to  his  master.-^  Moral  results  which  no  one  could 
gainsay  accompanied  the  Protestant  Reformation 
of  the  sixteenth  century  in  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  Scotland;  the  Puritans,  who  were  ardently  at- 
tached to  doctrinal  preaching,  drew  recruits  to  their 
ranks  by  the  correctness  of  their  lives  ;  and  the 
Methodist  revival  made  the  tradesman  throw  away 
his  light  weight  and  unjust  balance.  Mr.  Gladstone 
charges  the  clergy  of  to-day  with  not  being  severe 

1  Hatch,  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  Lecture  VL 
2 Acts  19  :  19.  ^Philemon. 


THE    THEME  I  35 

enough  on  their  congregations.  "  They  do  not,"  he 
says,  **  sufficiently  lay  upon  the  souls  and  consciences 
of  their  hearers  their  moral  obligations,  and  probe 
their  hearts,  and  bring  up  their  whole  life  and 
action  to  the  bar  of  conscience."  No  praise  which 
he  received  pleased  Carlyle  more  than  the  testi- 
mony of  a  tanner  whose  manufactures  were  re- 
markable for  their  uniform  excellence,  and  who 
said,  *<  If  I  had  not  read  Carlyle,  I  should  never 
have  made  my  leather  so  good."  The  preacher 
will  do  well  to  accustom  himself  to  find  what  is  the 
moral  meaning  of  the  popularity  of  the  book  just 
then  in  most  demand,  of  the  fame  of  the  public 
hero  of  the  hour,  of  the  event  by  which  men  are 
most  deeply  moved  in  war  or  politics,  in  commerce 
or  in  the  life  of  the  community ;  and  having  found 
it,  let  him  make  it  the  theme  of  a  discourse. 

2.  We  enlarge  our  circle,  although  the  center 
remains  the  same,  when  we  pass  to  relative  duties. 
Courtesy,  considerateness,  magnanimity,  truthful- 
ness, should  receive  distinct  treatment  in  the  pul- 
pit. '*  Be  not  afraid,"  said  Robert  Hall  to  a  young 
minister,  *'  of  devoting  whole  sermons  to  particu- 
lar parts  of  moral  conduct  and  religious  duty." 
The  historian  Froude  brings  a  grave  indictment 
against  the  pulpit  when  he  says  :  **  Many  a  hun- 
dred sermons  have  I  heard  in  England  .  .  .  but 
never  during  thirty  years  one  that  I  can  recollect 
on  common  honesty  or  those  primitive  command- 
ments, 'Thou  shalt  not  lie'  and  'Thou  shalt  not 
steal.'" 


136  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

Under  this  head  we  may  place  sermons  upon 
matters  which  should  interest  us  as  citizens,  such 
as  sanitation,  temperance,  social  reforms,  and  ques- 
tions touching  on  our  relations  to  the  community 
in  which  we.  live.  No  event  which  moves  the 
public  mind  should  be  suffered  to  pass  without 
reference  being  made  to  it  in  our  preaching. 
Without  a  suspicion  of  sensationalism  we  can  so 
deal  with  current  topics  that  our  hearers  shall  be 
in  no  doubt  as  to  what  the  Christian  religion 
teaches  as  to  the  life  that  now  is. 

III.  Historical  Sermons  stand  in  a  class  by 
themselves,  inasmuch  as  they  exemplify  and  en- 
force important  ethical  principles  from  Scripture 
history,  and  especially  from  the  great  characters 
depicted  in  its  pages. 

1.  This  kind  of  preaching  is  true  to  the  method 
of  Scripture,  which  in  its  narrative  parts  deals  so 
largely  with  individual  lives,  clustering  about  them 
current  events,  and  illustrating  by  means  of  them 
the  evolution  of  history. 

2.  The  preacher  who  can  handle  well  a  Scrip- 
ture character  is  sure  of  the  attention  of  a  very 
large  proportion  of  his  congregation.  '*  A  story," 
says  Cecil,  "will  hold  a  child  by  the  ear  for  an 
hour  together,  and  men  are  but  children  of  a 
larger  growth." 

3.  Nor  is  it  a  point  of  slight  importance  that  he 
who  learns  how  to  preach  thus  falls  in  with  the 
prevailing  literary  taste.  History  as  it  is  written 
by  Carlyle  or  Froude  or  Motley  or  Green  deals  to 


THE    THEME  137 

a  very  large  extent  with  the  lives  of  great  leaders 
in  their  relations  to  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 

I  say  "he  who  learns"  to  preach  sermons  cast 
in  the  historical  mold,  because  whether  the  faculty 
for  telling  a  story  be  natural  to  the  preacher  or 
acquired,  it  will  cost  him  pains  to  make  the  best 
use  of  it.  Mere  pictorial  description  is  of  little 
service.  The  homiletical  features  should  be  pre- 
served in  the  sermon  or  lecture.  Ample  scope 
should  be  given  to  application  and  appeal.  The 
preacher,  like  the  traveler  in  the  mazes  of  the 
Roman  Catacombs,  should  carry  with  him  the  clue 
which  keeps  him  in  connection  with  the  sunlight 
of  his  own  day.  Of  John  Angell  James,  of  Bir- 
mingham, England,  his  biographer  says  :  "  In  his- 
torical sermons  he  was  very  successful.  Unlike 
many  preachers  who  tell  the  story  in  their  intro- 
duction and  fill  the  rest  of  the  discourse  with  mere 
didactic  matter,  he  interwove  the  narrative  with 
the  instruction,  and  the  climax  of  the  story  was 
often  wrought  into  the  peroration.  Indeed  he 
could  tell  the  facts  in  a  way  that  made  it  almost 
unnecessary  formally  to  state  the  'moral.'  "^ 

IV.  John  Angell  James  represents  a  class  of 
preachers  to  whom  the  church  and  the  world  owe 
far  more  than  they  will  ever  acknowledge,  because 
their  sermons  are  so  largely  experimental  that 
while  powerfully  affecting  their  own  congregations, 
they  are  seldom  heard  of  elsewhere. 

Of  the  proverbially  short-lived  human  fame  of 

1  Dale,  "Life  of  J.  A.  James,"  p.  6i6. 


138  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

the  preacher  they  furnish  the  most  conspicuous 
example.  Listened  to  with  reverence  and  love 
while  living,  a  few  years  suffice  to  make  even  the 
names  of  such  preachers  strange  in  our  ears. 
Their  record  is  in  heaven,  and  the  influence  of 
their  discourses  remains  among  those  potent  but 
little  recognized  forces  by  which  unconsciously  to 
ourselves  whole  generations  are  molded.  Here  it 
is  that  the  value  of  the  Experimental  Sermon — 
the  next  group  in  our  present  classification — lies. 
It  deals  with  the  religious  experience  of  Christian 
people  and  concerns  itself  with  the  practical  and 
often  unheroic  piety  of  the  believer's  life — with 
the  joys  and  sorrows,  with  the  trials  and  tempta- 
tions of  the  soul. 

The  aim  of  experimental  preaching  is  four-fold. 
By  appealing  to  the  promises  and  injunctions  of 
the  Christian  religion  it  stimulates  the  believer ;  it 
finds  in  the  same  treasure-house  consolation  for 
the  mourner  in  his  bereavement,  and  for  the 
troubled  heart  in  its  trials  ;  enforcing  the  high 
standard  of  the  New  Testament,  it  recalls  men 
and  women  immersed  in  worldly  matters  to  Chris- 
tian consciousness ;  and  by  throwing  light  on  the 
various  duties  of  practical  piety  it  instructs  a  con- 
gregation in  the  conduct  of  daily  life. 

The  preacher  who  excels  as  a  pastor  will  never 
find  himself  at  a  loss  for  experimental  themes,  his 
visits  to  his  people  and  the  incidents  of  church 
life  will  furnish  themes  in  abundance,  while  his 
own    spiritual   life   will    reveal    to  him    alike  the 


THE    THEME  I  39 

depths  in  which  lie  the  darkest  shadows,  and  the 
mountain-peaks  where  he  may  *'  summer  high 
among  the  saints  of  God." 

V.  Under  the  class,  Occasional  Sermons,  we  put 
the  discourses  which  every  preacher  must  prepare 
to  deliver,  but  which  lie  outside  the  circle  of  his 
ordinary  pulpit  themes.  He  should  not  neglect 
the  lessons  of  special  times  and  seasons,  such  as 
the  new  and  the  old  year,  Easter  and  Christmas, 
when  he  will  be  assured  that  by  speaking  on  the 
thought  which  is  in  every  mind  he  has  a  point 
of  great  importance  in  his  favor.  He  should 
never  let  patriotic  occasions  pass  by  without  notice. 
Thanksgiving  he  should  make  worthy  of  its  name, 
and  redeem  it  from  the  charge  which  is  with  much 
reason  brought  against  it,  that  by  giving  to  the 
preacher  a  wider  range  it  allows  him  the  chance  to 
indulge  in  lamentations  over  current  abuses  in 
government  and  society  that  are  oftener  than  not 
as  vain  as  they  are  lugubrious.  On  the  other 
hand,  without  becoming  a  partisan,  he  is  bound  to 
insist  on  every  proper  occasion  upon  the  national 
honor,  upon  the  duty  of  the  citizen  to  vote,  and 
upon  the  influence  of  Christian  chivalry  on  the 
heart  of  the  community.  The  history  of  the 
American  ministry  is  rich  in  the  stirring  appeals 
of  true  patriots,  and  up  to  the  present  time  the 
sermon  has  wielded  an  immense  power  in  direct- 
ing and  controlling  the  policy  of  the  American 
people. 

To   the    same    class    also    belong    sermons    on 


140  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

philanthropic  subjects,  such  as  International  Arbi- 
tration, Kindness  to  Animals,  Temperance.  We 
reach  the  widest  circle  and  one  of  transcendent 
moment  when  we  mention  Christian  missions  and 
their  claims  on  the  Christian  congregation.  In 
his  ordinary  ministry  the  preacher  should  deal 
with  this  lofty  and  inspiring  theme.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  to  igno- 
rance about  missions  and  to  culpable  indifference 
to  their  paramount  and  imperious  importance  on 
the  part  of  a  majority  of  Christian  preachers,  we 
owe  it  that  only  on  rare  occasions,  and  invariably  as 
a  prelude  to  a  collection,  do  we  hear  discourses  on 
the  very  theme  which  inspired  the  earthly  mission 
of  Jesus  and  the  labors  of  his  apostles.  No  Sun- 
day should  ever  pass  without  distinct  reference 
being  made  to  missions  in  the  prayers,  the  psal- 
mody, or  the  sermon  of  the  public  service. 


PARTS  OF  THE  SERMON 


SUMMARY 


The  Introduction  compared  to  :  ( i )  The  prelude  of  a  poem  ; 
(2)  The  preface  to  a  book  ;  (3)  The  portico  of  a  building  ; 
(4)  The  opening  of  a  law  case. 

I.  Purposes  Served  by  the  Introduction. 

1.  Draws  attention   to  the   text   and   to   the   theme:  (i)   Ad- 

dresses the  whole  nature  ;  (2)  Exegesis  most  fitting  at 
this  stage  in  the  sermon. 

2.  Brings  preacher  and  hearer  into  touch. 

Counsels  as  to  manner,  tone,  and  spirit. 

II.  Characteristics  of  the  Introduction. 

1.  Should  be  pertinent:  (i)  No  matter  to  be  admitted  which 

is  foreign  to  the  text;  (2)  Or  to  the  theme  ;  (3)  In  few 
words  should  indicate  the  line  of  thought  to  be  pursued. 

2.  Should  be  brief.     Introduces  text  and  audience.     Five  min- 

utes sufficient. 

3.  Should  be  natural  :  ( l)  Avoid  a  florid  style  ;  (2)  Avoid  com- 

plicated sentences;  (3)  Avoid  exaggeration;  (4)  On  an 
easy  level  of  discourse  ;  (5)  The  tone  of  voice,  clear,  calm, 
deliberate. 

4.  Should  be  worthy  of  engaging  the  hearer's  attention  :   ( i ) 

The  subject  a  serious  one;  (2)  Jesting  and  frivolity  to  be 
avoided  ;  ( 3 )  Yet  thought  may  be  put  in  a  fresh  way. 


X 

PARTS    OF    THE    SERMON 

The  introduction  to  the  sermon  presupposes 
that  the  discourse  is  a  complete  structure  and  not 
a  disjointed  fragment.     In  this  it  is 

not  sinojular,  but  takes  its  place  in    ^  ^  '       ^. 

.  .  .      Introduction 

Ime  with   other  forms  of    composi- 
tion.    We  shall  more  readily  understand  the  true 
nature  and  purpose  of  the  introduction  if  we  illus- 
trate this  remark  by  three  or  four  comparisons. 

1.  It  may  be  likened,  for  example,  to  the  pre-  (/^ 
lude  of  a  poem  which  has  to  bear  some  proportion 

to  the  poem  itself.  "  Paradise  Lost "  is  intro- 
duced by  only  twenty-five  lines  of  stately  verse. 
The  magnitude  of  the  subject  does  not  admit  of 
dallying  on  the  threshold.  So  ought  it  to  be 
with  the  sermon.  "  The  King's  business  requires 
haste." 

2.  Or  it  may  be  compared  to  the  preface  to  a 
a  book ;  and  indeed  many  preachers  carry  the  re- 
semblance in  this  instance  so  far  that  the  intro- 
duction to  their  sermon  is  the  last  part  of  it  to  be 
composed,  perhaps  on  Pascal's  principle — only  with 
another  application — that  the  last  thing  a  man  finds 
out  when  he  is  writing  a  book  is  how  to  begin. 
Yet  if  the  sermon  has  been  carefully  developed  it 

143 


144       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

is  tolerably  certain  that  during  the  process  the  in- 
troduction, in  common  with  other  parts,  will  have 
suggested  itself.  The  man  who  knows  the  rooms 
of  a  house  is  likely  to  be  familiar  with  the  front 
door.  And  we  venture  to  counsel  that,  as  a  rule, 
if  no  introduction  suggests  itself  while  you  are 
developing  the  theme,  it  will  be  safe  to  assume 
that  none  is  needed.  Then  have  none.  There  is 
no  law  obliging  every  sermon  to  have  an  intro- 
duction, as  there  is  no  law  obliging  every  book  to 
have  a  preface.  The  charm  of  surprise  will  some- 
times be  given  to  a  sermon  by  beginning  it  at  once 
without  any  kind  of  preamble. 
^,  3.  What  has  just  been  said  reminds  us  that  an 
introduction  may  be  further  likened  to  the  portico 
of  a  public  building,  and  here  the  resemblance  is 
even  closer.  The  portico  should  be  of  the  same 
style  as  the  main  structure,  it  should  be  harmoni- 
ous with  it  in  design,  it  should  be  modest  in  its 
proportion,  and  severe  rather  than  florid  in  its 
character,  and  it  should  not  attract  too  much  at- 
tention to  itself,  but  rather  lead  at  once  into  the 
building.  To  fail  in  any  of  these  particulars  is  as 
unfortunate  in  homiletics  as  it  is  in  architecture. 

4.  No  less  apt  is  the  comparison  which  sees 
points  of  resemblance  between  the  introduction  to 
the  sermon  and  the  opening  of  a  case  in  law.  A 
well-known  authority  gives  some  sound  advice  to 
young  advocates  which  is  equally  applicable  to 
young  preachers,  and  indeed  to  older  ones  as  well, 
if  they  be  not  past  profiting  by  it  :  /  Slow,  sure, 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 45 

and  short  is  a  good  motto.  A  long  opening  is 
wearisome  and  unnecessary,  and  it  can  only  be 
made  so  by  repetition."^  Nowhere  are  compact- 
ness, rapidity  of  approach,  directness,  and  single- 
ness of  aim  more  admirable  than  in  introducing 
the  subject  of  discourse.N 

What  we  have  to  say  as  to  the  introduction  of 
the  sermon  may  be  arranged  under  the  two  divi- 
sions of  the  purposes  which  it  answers  and  the 
characteristics  by  which  it  should  be  distinguished. 

I.  We  first  consider  the  purposes  served  by  the 
introduction. 

I.  It  should  arrest  and  insure  attention  to  the 
text  and  to  the  subject  of  discourse. 

(i)  To  do  this  let  the  preacher  as  far  as  possible 
address  the  whole  nature.  You  have  to  speak  to 
a  variety  of  faculties.  Have  a  word  therefore  for 
the  intellect,  for  the  moral  nature,  for  the  soul. 
In  the  few  moments  at  your  disposal  make  the 
theme  of  the  sermon  quite  clear  and  in  a  natural 
way  lead  to  the  divisions  of  your  discourse. 

(2)  Nothing  is  so  likely  to  do  this  as  exegesis ; 
and  although  exegesis  should  not  be  confined  to 
the  introduction  nor  the  introduction  to  exegesis, 
yet  it  is  nowhere  so  happy  as  here.  A  sermon  by 
Dr.  Maclaren  on  "The  Glorious  Gospel  of  the 
Blessed  God"  ^  is  aptly  introduced  by  an  explana- 
tion of  the  words  '* glorious"  and  "blessed,"  put- 
ting the  apostle's  thought  in  this  new  and  striking 

^  Richard  Harris,  *'  Hints  on  Advocacy,"  p.  44. 
2  I  Tim.  I  :  ii. 
K 


146       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

form  :  "  The  Gospel  of  the  Glory  of  the  Happy 
God."  Then  the  divisions  of  his  subject  grew  out 
of  the  exegesis  :  (i)  The  revelation  of  God  in  Christ 
of  which  the  gospel  is  the  record  is  the  glory  of 
God ;  (2)  that  revelation  is,  in  a  very  profound 
sense,  the  blessedness  of  God ;  (3)  and  lastly,  that 
revelation  is  the  good  news  for  men. 

2.  A  second  purpose  which  the  introduction 
should  serve  is  to  bring  the  preacher  and  his  hear- 
ers into  touch  with  one  another.  Here  and  at 
once  the  personality  of  the  preacher  should  be 
felt.  The  man  back  of  the  sermon  must  be  recog- 
nized now,  although  he  may  perhaps  fall  into  the 
shade  later  on  before  the  higher  interests  of  his 
theme  ;  as  the  architect  is  seen  at  the  ceremony  of 
laying  the  foundation  stone  of  his  building,  and 
after  that  may  be  seen  no  more.  It  is  of  impor- 
tance that  our  hearers  be  interested  in  us  not  so 
much  for  our  sake  as  for  the  sake  of  our  mission 
and  message.  The  voice  of  John  the  Baptist  loses 
nothing  of  its  impressiveness,  because  a  few  touches 
give  us  the  gaunt  figure  and  simple  life  of  the 
forerunner. 

A  preacher's  manner,  his  tones,  his  attitude 
even,  serve  to  introduce  him  to  his  hearers  and 
to  enlist  their  interest  in  him.  He  may  repel  or 
attract  his  auditors  before  he  has  been  speaking 
five  minutes.  Let  him  take  a  graceful  and  dignified 
posture,  let  him  avoid  all  gestures  at  first,  let  him 
be  courteous,  conciliatory,  and  respectful  in  tone, 
and    in   spirit    modest,    unassuming,   and  earnest, 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 47 

and  almost  before  he  has  opened  up  his  subject 
he  has  gained  the  first  step  which  counts  for  so 
much. 

A  noble  illustration  of  both  these  purposes 
which  should  be  served  by  the  introduction  will  be 
found  in  the  opening  sentences  of  the  first  sermon 
which  Massillon  preached  before  Louis  XIV.,  of 
France.  For  even  the  worldliest  courtier  present  it 
must  have  been  hard  indeed  not  to  feel  interested 
alike  in  the  subject  and  in  the  preacher  of  the  dis- 
course. His  text  was  "  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn."  ^  What  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
begin  with  reference  to  his  choice  of  text,  which 
must  already  have  repelled  an  audience  little  accus- 
tomed to  connect  sorrow  with  happiness  }  "  Sire,  if 
the  world  were  speaking  here,  instead  of  Jesus 
Christ,  assuredly  it  would  not  address  your  majesty 
in  the  same  language."  After  picturing  the  flatter- 
ing words  with  which  it  would  approach  him,  the 
preacher  suddenly  changes  his  tone  :  "  But,  sire, 
Jesus  Christ  does  not  speak  as  the  world  speaks. 
Happy,  he  says  to  you,  not  he  who  wins  the  ad- 
miration of  the  present  world  but  who  is  occupied 
with  the  world  to  come,  and  lives  in  a  contempt 
of  himself  and  all  that  passes  away,  because  to 
him  belongs  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Happy,  not 
he  whose  reign  will  be  immortalized  in  history, 
but  he  whose  tears  will  have  blotted  out  the  his- 
tory of  his  sins  from  the  remembrance  of  God 
himself,  because  he   shall  be  comforted  forever. 

1  Matt.  5:4. 


148  THE   MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

*  Blessed  are   they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be 
/comforted.'"^ 
[/        II.   We  pass  from  the  purposes  of  the  introduc- 
tion to  consider  its  prominent  characteristics. 
V       I.  Evidently  the  first  of  these  is  what  we  may 
call     pertinency.      The    introduction    should    be 
applicable  to  the  theme  of  the  sermon,  and  to  its 
occasion. 

(i)  No  matter  should  be  found  in  it  which  is 
foreign  to  the  text ;  any  tendency  to  divagation 
must  be  severely  put  down ;  the  hearer's  attention 
must  be  seized,  and  the  direction  of  his  thought 
determined.  To  go  wrong  so  early  will  be  to  im- 
peril the  whole  discourse,  and  Mr.  Ruskin's  maxim, 
that  it  is  the  first  half-dozen  strokes  that  determine 
/  the  portrait,  holds  good  in  preaching  as  much  as 
in  painting. 

(2)  Nor,  for  the  same  reason,  should  any  matter 
which  is  foreign  to  the  theme  be  admitted.  Side 
controversies  must  not  at  this  point  be  considered. 

(3)  Employ  your  introduction  wisely,  and  with 
a  few  strokes  you  can  carry  the  audience  at  once 
into  the  heart  of  your  subject.  If  text  and  theme 
be  kept  in  view  in  the  introduction,  the  special  line 
of  thought  which  is  to  be  pursued  in  the  sermon 
may  be  readily  indicated ;  and  sometimes  the  divi- 
sions can  even  be  formally  mentioned.  How  ad- 
mirably is  this  managed  in  a  sermon  by  one  of  the 
most  imaginative  preachers  of  our  time!  ^     He  pro- 

^  "Quarterly  Review,"  October,  1884  ;  Art.,  "  Massillon." 
2  The  Rev.  Mark  Guy  Pearst, 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 49 

poses  to  tell  once  more  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son.  "Doctors,"  he  begins,  "take  violets  to 
make  physic  of  them ;  preachers  take  the  Lord's 
stories,  and  make  sermons  of  them.  Well,  the 
process  is  much  the  same,  spoiling  the  beauty  to 
get  the  good.  One  wishes  we  could  keep  the  vio- 
let and  have  the  physic  still ;  one  wishes  we  could 
keep  the  story  and  have  the  sermon  still.  I  would 
almost  venture  to-night  to  try  and  enlarge  the 
Lord's  story  without  letting  it  lose  its  story  form." 
Then  he  goes  on  to  suggest  this  division :  (a)  What 
the  lad  asked  for,  or  what  all  sin  is ;  {b)  where  he 
went,  or  what  all  sin  does ;  (c)  how  he  came 
home,  or  how  all  sin  is  remedied. 

2.  Secondly,  the  introduction  should  be  brief.  V^ 
The  rustic  when  he  obtains  possession  of  your 
hand  knows  no  better  than  to  retain  it  for  five 
minutes  and  keep  it  going  like  the  pendulum  of 
his  grandmother's  clock.  When  he  learns  better 
manners  he  finds  that  a  momentary  grasp  is  suffi- 
cient even  to  cement  the  friendship  of  monarchs. 
In  your  introduction  take  the  theme  by  one  hand 
and  the  audience  by  the  other,  make  them  ac- 
quainted, and  then  drop  the  hands  and  get  to  work 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  introduction,  in  other 
words,  must  bear  a  modest  proportion  to  the  ser- 
mon itself.  An  old  woman  who  listened  to  John 
Howe,  the  Puritan,  a  preacher  very  partial  to  long 
introductions,  said  that  "  he  was  so  long  in  laying 
the  cloth  that  she  began  to  despair  of  getting  any 
dinner."     Five  minutes  out  of  the  thirty  granted 


150  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

to  the  sermon  should  be  ample.  You  have  not  to 
expand  ideas,  but  only  to  indicate  them.  The 
preacher  who  expatiates  in  his  introduction  will  be 
insufferably  prolix  in  his  sermon,  if  he  preserve 
any  proportion  in  it.  ^ 

3.  Thirdly,  the  introduction  should  be  natural. 
Avoid  even  more  carefully  here  than  later  on  in 
the  discourse  a  florid  style. 

(i)  As  a  rule  it  is  not  wise  to  begin  with  an 
appeal  to  the  imagination  or  to  the  fancy.  "  In 
an  opening  speech  "  (such  is  the  counsel  given  to 
lawyers),  "  illustration  should  be  utterly  abandoned. 
Fact,  and  fact  alone,  is  the  strength  of  an  open- 
ing speech."^ 

(2)  Of  course  there  have  been  preachers  who 
in  this  as  in  other  matters  were  a  law  unto  them- 
selves. Dr.  Guthrie  could  afford  to  open  with  a 
vivid  picture,  but  he  was  the  prince  of  illustrative 
preachers,    and    has    perhaps    no    legitimate    suc- 


cessor.^ 


(3)  The  sentences  with  which  the  discourse 
begins  should  be  brief,  well  compacted,  and  care- 
fully composed.  When  a  preacher  opens  his  ser- 
mon by  saying,  ''  The  most  wonderful,  the  most 
comprehensive,  and  yet  the  least  regarded  and  per- 
haps the  most  mutilated  text  in  the  Bible  is  before 
our  attention  this  evening,"''  we  make  no  mistake 
in  deciding  that  we  have  also  before  our  attention 

iSee  Scripture  models  :  Matt.  13  :  3  ;  Acts  7  :  2  ;  17  :  22. 

'  Harris  "  Advocacy,"  p.  29. 

^  E.  g.,  "Speaking  to  the  Heart,"  Sermon  H.       *Mark  16  :  id 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  I5I 

a  speaker  who  has  yet  to  learn  how  to  be  at  the 
same  time  less  positive  and  less  superlative.  By 
starting  with  four  assertions  in  one  breath  he 
makes  any  further  attention  almost  impossible  for 
hearers  whose  minds  are  constructed  on  ordinary 
principles.  Who  among  us  at  once  and  simul- 
taneously can  concentrate  his  thought  on  four 
general  statements,  any  one  of  which  lies  open  to 
serious  challenge  ? 

(4)  By  all  means  let  the  preacher  keep  clear  of 
hyperbole  at  a  time  when  he  has  not  the  fervor  of 
oratory  to  plead  in  extenuation.  Exaggeration  is 
not  vivid  or  impressive  in  an  introduction.  It  is 
only  weak  and  irritating,  as  all  forcible  feebleness 
is  apt  to  be.^  Moderation  may  often  be  combined 
with  force,  but  exaggeration  never. 

(5)  It  is  natural  to  add  that  the  sermon  should 
begin  on  an  easy  level.  Do  not  start  out  at  an 
ambitious  elevation,  lest  you  discover  how  fatally 
facile  is  the  descent.  Your  hearers  must  join  you, 
and  in  order  to  do  this  you  will  have  to  pick  them 
up.  By  and  by  you  can  mount  with  them ;  but 
even  a  balloon  soars  from  a  level  and  not  from  a 
mountain  top. 

(6)  This  simplicity  of  thought  should  be  accom- 
panied by  a  tone  of  voice  befitting  it.  Be  clear- 
toned,  calm,  and  deliberate.  The  young  speaker, 
often  through  sheer  nervousness,  commences  his 
discourse  in  a  strident  note,  or  in  a  tone  which  is 
magisterial  and  authoritative,  or  with  a  rapidity  of 

^Harris,  "Advocacy,"  pp.  39-41. 


152  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

utterance  which  deprives  his  first  half-dozen  sen- 
tences of  all  meaning,  and  leaves  a  proportion  of 
his  congregation  behind  at  the  very  start.  The 
chances  are  that  so  they  will  remain  ;  for  by  the 
time  they  have  regained  their  breath  and  are  pre- 
pared to  listen,  the  preacher  is  already  far  on  in 
his  first  division. 

4.  Fourthly,  the  introduction  should  be  worthy 
of  engaging  the  attention  of  intelligent  hearers. 

It  should  befit  a  serious  subject.  When  Mas- 
sillon  began  his  funeral  sermon  on  Louis  the 
Great  with  the  words,  "  My  brethren,  God  only  is 
great,"  every  one  felt  that  at  once  a  deep  chord 
had  been  struck.  By  all  means,  therefore,  avoid 
even  the  semblance  of  jesting  or  frivolity.  This 
would  be  to  prelude  an  oratorio  with  a  few  bars 
from  a  comic  opera.  The  ambassador  for  Christ 
has  no  ambition  to  be  like  Laurence  Sterne,  who 
often  opened  his  sermons  with  a  quip,  and  of  whom 
it  was  said  that  all  the  while  he  preached  he 
seemed  as  though  at  any  moment  he  might  fling 
his  wig  in  the  face  of  his  congregation.  Although 
our  art  be  far  inferior  to  that  of  Sterne,  who  was 
without  any  question  one  of  the  great  masters  of 
exquisite  style,  still  we  may  often  succeed  in  put- 
ting our  thought  in  a  way  so  fresh  and  impressive 
that  the  interest  of  the  congregation  shall  be 
aroused  from  the  very  first  sentence.  Yet  this 
should  be  done  with  so  much  simplicity  and  sin- 
cerity that  no  doubt  remains  on  the  part  of  our 
hearers  as  to  our  spirit  and  purpose.     Chrysostom 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  I  53 

had  every  ear  attentive  when  preaching  just  after 
an  earthquake  he  began  his  sermon,  ''  Do  you  see 
the  power  of  God  ?  Do  you  see  the  benignity  of 
God  ?  His  power  because  the  solid  world  he  has 
shaken  ;  his  benignity  because  the  fallen  world  he 
has  supported."^  While  entirely  free  from  any 
suspicion  of  sensationalism  this  was  timely  and 
novel. 

Remember,  then,  that  nothing  is  so  impressive 
as  simplicity.  A  natural  manner,  an  easy  level  of 
tone  and  of  language,  and  a  clear  but  vigorous  line 
of  thought  are  features  which  should  distinguish 
the  introduction. 

^  Phelps,  **  Theory  of  Preaching,"  p.  262. 


PARTS  OF  THE  SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


The  natural  cleavage  of  texts.     The  chief  purpose  of  the  Intro- 
duction. 

I.  The  Advantages  of   Having  Divisions  in  the  Sermon. 

1.  To  the  preacher,      (i)   They  hold  him  down  to  the  sermon 

model  :  ( 2 )  They  assist  him  in  composing  the  sermon  ; 
[a)  Evidence  consecutive  thought;  [d)  Train  him  to 
think  consecutively  ;  ( 3 )  They  assist  him  in  delivering  the 
sermon:  (a)  Make  it  an  articulated  whole;  [d)  Aid 
emphasis  ;  (r)  And  make  transition  easy. 

2.  To  the  hearer,      (i)  Excite  interest ;   (2)  Assist  the  mind  ; 

( 3 )  Produce  the  right  effect. 

II.  The  Right  Treatment  of  Divisions. 

1.  Should  divisions  be  apparent  throughout  the  sermon? 

2.  Should  divisions  be  announced  ? 

3.  At  what  time  should  divisions  be  announced? 

III.  As  to  the  Number  of  the  Divisions. 

1.  Uniformity  unreasonable. 

2.  Have  as  few  divisions  as  possible. 

3.  The  present  fashion  is  for  three  main  divisions. 

IV.  Qualities  which  should  be  found  in  Divisions. 

1.  Interesting,     (i)  Study  freshness  ;  (2)  But  be  true  to  the 

meaning  of  the  text ;  (3)  Eccentricity  not  justified. 

2.  Clear. 

3.  Progressive. 

4.  Symmetrical ;  ( I )  There  must  be  proportion  in  the  parts  ; 

Should  be  related  to  one  another  in  the  progress  of 
thought ;  ( 2 )  Should  bear  a  due  proportion  to  one 
another;  (3)  Should  bear  recapitulation. 


XI 

PARTS  OF  THE  SERMON  (CONTINUED) 

Every  text  on  which  a  sermon  can  be  preached 

has  a  natural  cleavage.     There  are  certain  points 

at  which  it  can  best  be  split  open,  _,     _.   .  . 

,,..,,  ,,        ^,  .         The  Divisions 

and  divided  naturally.     1  hese  points 

of  cleavage  are  what  we  have  in  mind  when  we 

speak  of  the  partition  or  division  of  the  sermon. 

The  introduction  serves  its  chief  purpose  when  it 

leads  up  to  the  cleavage  of  the  text,  and  suggests 

the  lines  of  analysis  which  are  to  be  followed. 

I.  Before  proceeding  further  let  us  glance  at 
the  advantages  alike  to  preacher  and  hearer  in  hav- 
ing divisions  in  the  sermon. 

I.  To  the  preacher  the  first  advantage  is,  that 
divisions  hold  him  down  to  the  sermon  model. 

(i)  They  save  him  from  committing  the  rhe- 
torical blunder  of  writing  an  essay  and  calling  it  a 
sermon.  All  effective  speakers  use  divisions,  al- 
though they  may  not  be  formally  announced,  or  be 
even  apparent  on  the  surface.  Archdeacon  Paley, 
who  has  no  superior  in  the  art  of  writing  clear 
English,  says  what  every  hearer  of  sermons  knows 
to  be  true  :  **  A  discourse  which  rejects  these  aids 
to  perspicuity  will  turn  out  a  bewildered  rhapsody, 
without  aim  or  effect,  order  or  conclusion." 

157 


158       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

(2)  Another  advantage  to  the  preacher  in  hav- 
ing divisions  in  his  sermon  is  that  they  assist  him 
in  composing  his  discourse,  (a)  They  are  evi- 
dences of  consecutive  thought.  They  do  not  so 
much  belong  to  the  art  of  expression  as  to  the  art 
of  thinking.  They  are  philosophical  rather  than 
rhetorical,  (b)  This  statement  can  be  reversed 
and  still  remain  true.  Divisions  train  the  preacher 
to  think  consecutively.  For  this  reason  an  im- 
perfect or  faulty  development  of  the  text  almost 
certainly  means  an  imperfect  or  faulty  development 
of  the  theme.  I  venture  to  press  this  two-fold 
statement  to  its  logical  conclusion,  and  to  assert 
that  a  sermon  which  fails  under  analysis  cannot 
be  a  good  sermon.  By  something  akin  to  that 
providence  which  is  said  to  watch  over  intemperate 
persons  and  children,  it  may  do  good  ;  but  in  itself 
it  is  not  good.  We  may  illustrate  what  we  mean 
from  the  art  of  painting.  '*  A  painter,"  says  Mul- 
ready,  who  was  himself  an  artist,  "  cannot  take  a 
step  without  anatomy."  The  greatest  masters  of 
figure  painting,  such  as  Michael  Angelo  and  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  studied  anatomy  as  diligently  as 
though  they  had  intended  to  become  surgeons. 
Their  figures  were  first  drawn  in  the  nude  and 
then  draped.  And  so  a  sermon  must  be  built  up, 
the  skeleton  first,  then  flesh  and  the  clothinof. 

(3)  Further,  divisions  help  the  preacher  when 
he  comes  to  deliver  his  sermon,  {a)  Thanks  to 
them,  it  is  impressed  upon  his  mind  as  an  articu- 
lated organism.     Whatever  his  plans  of  delivery 


PARTS    OF    THE    SERMON  159 

may  be,  he  should  be  master  of  the  contents  of 
his  discourse.  This  is  where  divisions  are  so  help- 
ful. They  insure  method,  and  "  without  method 
memory  is  useless."  {b)  They  also  help  him  in 
emphasizing  his  thought.  To  lay  stress  where  it 
is  not  called  for  is  like  putting  your  foot  down  on 
level  ground  when  you  expected  to  find  a  descent. 
The  whole  system  is  shaken  when  it  should  have 
been  sustained.  There  are  levels  in  sermons — 
often,  alas,  the  level  is  unbroken  and  then  it  is  a 
dead  level — but  in  the  best  of  sermons  there  are 
smooth  and  even  passages  where  the  mind  rests. 
Why  emphasize  them  .^  Nothing  is  more  tiresome, 
nothing  less  impressive,  than  perpetual  intensity. 
(c)  And,  moreover,  to  mention  another  important 
point  in  their  favor  to  the  preacher,  divisions  assist 
him  in  his  transitions  from  one  point  to  the  next. 
They  are  rungs  in  his  ladder,  and  if  at  any  period 
in  the  delivery  of  his  discourse  he  finds  his  mem- 
ory fail,  falter,  or  refuse  to  do  its  work,  he  must  at 
his  leisure  examine  the  plan  just  there.  Most 
likely  a  rung  is  missing  and  the  angels  of  thought, 
who  wear  no  wings  for  the  preacher,  but  tread  the 
common  rhetorical  stairway,  cannot  pass  up  or 
down. 

2.  What  advantages  to  the  hearer  are  served  by 
divisions  } 

(i)  Contrary  to  a  belief  which  has  become  very 
general  in  consequence  of  clumsy  sermonizing,  I 
believe  that  divisions  excite  interest  in  the  minds 
of  our  hearers.     They  foster  expectation,   like  a 


l6o  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

catalogue  of  fine  paintings   over   which  you   run 
your  eye  before  entering  the  gallery. 

(2)  Certainly  they  assist  the  mind  to  understand 
and  carry  away  the  particular  line  of  thought 
which  the  preacher  is  enforcing.  Even  though  it 
is  true  that  at  times  they  seem  to  break  the  force 
of  an  address,  yet  "if  they  are  conjunctive  and 
not  disjunctive,  they  aid  the  memory  without 
materially  weakening  the  effects  of  the  sermon  at 
the  time."  ^  You  must  consider  how  many  of  your 
hearers  are  unused  to  logical  thought.  Assist 
them  to  follow  your  message,  and  you  have  gone 
a  long  way  toward  assisting  them  to  accept  it. 

(3)  Besides,  the  clear  and  natural  partition  of 
your  subject  is  likely  to  produce  the  precise  effect 
aimed  at  in  your  sermon.  Every  discourse  which 
deserves  the  name  must  have  an  aim,  and  the 
divisions  assist  the  preacher  in  taking  his  sight  as 
a  skillful  marksman  should  do.  This  point — and 
this — and  this,  are  they  all  in  line  ? — then  the  dis- 
charge is  likely  to  hit  the  mark.  I  commend  to 
every  preacher  a  little  bit  of  noble  English  in  which 
John  Bright  contrasts  his  oratory  with  that  of  W. 
E.  Gladstone.  "  Gladstone  goes  coasting  along- 
turning  up  every  creek  and  exploring  it  to  its 
source  before  he  can  proceed  on  his  way;  but  I 
have  no  talent  for  detail.  I  hold  my  course  from 
headland  to  headland  through  the  great  seas." 
Divisions  are  the  headlands  by  which  the  speaker 
holds  his  course  through  the  great  seas  of  thought. 

^J.  A.  James,  "Life,"  p.  477. 


PARTS    OF   THE    SERMON  l6l 

II.  We  pass  on  to  consider  the  right  treatment 
of  divisions.  Here  there  are  three  questions  to 
be  asked  and  answered. 

1.  First,  should  the  divisions  be  made  apparent 
throughout  the  sermon }  Certainly  they  should. 
If  you  are  treating  your  subject  logically  and  pro- 
gressively, it  is  surely  right  that  any  intelligent 
hearer  should  be  told  just  where  he  is.  Why 
should  he  not  know  the  plan  of  a  discourse  as  he 
knows  the  plan  of  a  house  ?  He  does  not  mistake 
the  parlor  for  the  dining  room.  Why  should  he 
mistake  the  first  division  for  the  third.?  Each 
should  have  its  own  furniture.  Nor  need  the 
sermon  become  rigid  or  mechanical  because 
the  arrangement  is  evident.  *'  The  divisions  of 
a  church,"  says  Mr.  Ruskin,  ''are  much  like 
the  divisions  of  a  sermon ;  they  are  always  right 
so  long  as  they  are  necessary  to  edification,  and 
always  wrong  when  they  are  thrust  upon  the 
attention  as  divisions  only."  Phillips  Brooks 
preached  what  he  practised  when  he  declared  that 
*'  the  true  way  to  get  rid  of  the  boniness  of  a 
sermon  is  not  by  leaving  out  the  skeleton,  but  by 
clothing  it  with  flesh." 

2.  Second,  should  the  divisions  be  announced  .-* 
Why  not }  The  custom  has  the  authority  of  long 
usage.  It  comes  to  us  from  the  Roman  forum, 
and  from  the  masters  of  eloquence  who  mentally 
associating  the  heads  of  a  speech  with  certain 
localities  around  them,  spoke  of  ''the  first  place," 
"  second  place,"  and  so  coined  a  phrase  which  has 

L 


1 62  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

become  universal.^  To  this  day  the  political 
speaker  on  the  stump  and  the  advocate  at  the  bar 
announce  their  points.  Yet  so  radical  are  the  dif- 
ferences between  sermons  that  this  question  has 
to  be  decided  mainly  by  the  species  to  which  each 
discourse  belongs.  In  a  topical  sermon  divisions 
need  not  be  announced,  and  indeed  there  may  be 
none ;  the  topic  in  bulk  is  constantly  held  in  view. 
In  a  textual  sermon  the  words  of  the  text,  taken 
in  their  logical  order,  will  generally  furnish  all  the 
help  that  the  hearer's  memory  needs  without 
formal  announcement.  In  a  textual-topical  ser- 
mon, on  the  contrary,  the  divisions  should  always 
be  announced ;  and  in  an  inferential  sermon  they 
should  be  indicated  clearly  as  each  advanced  posi- 
tion is  taken.  In  an  expository  sermon  the  words 
of  the  Scripture  on  which  the  exposition  is  based 
will  of  necessity  be  repeated  at  the  critical  points 
in  the  discourse,  and  this  will  serve  the  purposes 
of  formal  announcement. 

3.  Thirdly,  if  announced,  at  what  time  should 
this  be  done  ^  I  answer,  have  no  fixed  and  in- 
variable method.  Sometimes  announce  the  divi- 
sions immediately  after  the  introduction  ;  at  other 
times — and  this  perhaps  most  frequently — content 
yourself  with  announcing  the  divisions  when  you 
come  to  them.  Vary  the  custom,  again,  by  first 
giving  the  division  and  then  in  one  brief  sentence 
characterizing    its    contents;^  or,   once  more,   by 

*  Phelps,   "Theory,"  etc.,  pp.  370,  371. 
*R.  W.  Dale,  "Yale  Lectures,"  pp.  140,  142. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 63 

announcing  the  thought  of  the  division  at  its 
beginning  and  at  its  close. 

But  while  we  counsel  announcement  of  divisions 
we  caution  the  young  preacher  against  pushing 
announcement  any  further.  Never  announce  your 
sub-divisions.  This  is  to  court  arithmetical  con- 
fusion, and  perhaps  provoke  unkindly  feeling  on 
the  part  of  your  hearers  when  they  discover  that 
they  have  been  beguiled  into  thinking  the  end  to 
be  in  sight  although  it  was  yet  afar  off.  A  con- 
gregation is  almost  invariably  disappointed  when 
it  mistakes  a  way  station  for  the  terminus. 

III.  Something  must  be  said  at  this  point  as  to 
the  number  of  the  divisions  in  the  sermon. 

1.  Uniformity  in  this  matter  is  unreasonable. 
There  can  be  no  settled  and  arbitrary  rule.  The 
number  of  divisions  in  any  discourse  must  evi- 
dently be  determined  by  the  species  to  which  the 
sermon  belongs  and  by  the  subject  of  which  the 
sermon  treats.  The  very  fact  that  the  preacher 
has  to  prepare  so  many  discourses  a  week  for  so 
many  months  in  the  year,  and  for  so  many  years 
of  a  pastorate,  is  apt  to  betray  him  into  the  hands 
of  a  dull  inert  uniformity,  unless  he  is  constantly 
on  his  guard.  And  perhaps  this  is  why  it  will  be 
found  that  almost  every  preacher  has  a  favorite 
number  of  divisions,  short  of  which  his  mind  never 
stops,  and  beyond  which  his  mind  never  goes. 

2.  As  a  rule,  we  should  say,  let  the  divisions  be 
as  few  as  possible.  Mr.  Spurgeon  said  that  he 
always  had  most  divisions  when  he  had  least  to 


164  THE    MAKING    OF    THE   SERMON 

divide.  This  is  a  confession  which  we  little  look  for 
in  him,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  seemly  from  most 
preachers.  The  poor  preacher  like  the  poor  family 
has  often  more  mouths  than  meat.  "  I  guess  good 
housekeeping,"  says  old  Thomas  Fuller,  ''not  by 
the  number  of  chimneys,  but  by  the  smoke."  In 
preaching,  as  in  architecture,  the  main  lines  on 
which  the  eye  rests  at  once  should  be  few.  Im- 
pression is  marred  by  multiplication.  The  taste  at 
the  present  time  is  for  two  or  three  divisions,  but 
it  has  not  always  been  so.  The  Puritans  delighted 
in  the  intricacies  and  involutions  of  the  maze. 
Thomas  Lye,  discoursing  on  i  Cor.  6  :  17,  en- 
deavors to  explain  the  text  *'  in  thirty  particulars 
for  the  fixing  of  it  on  a  right  basis,  and  then  adds 
fifty-six  more  to  explain  the  subject."^  With  a 
modesty  which  touches  the  sublime  and  an  obscur- 
ity which  comes  equally  near  to  the  ridiculous  he 
proceeds  :  "  Having  thus  beaten  up  and  leveled  our 
way  to  the  text,  I  shall  not  stand  to  shred  the 
words  into  any  unnecessary  parts,  but  shall  extract 
out  of  them  such  an  observation  as  I  conceive 
strikes  a  full  eighth  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  of 
God." 

3.  The  prevalent  fashion  is  for  three  main  divi- 
sions, (i)  For  the  preference  for  this  number 
one  reason  was  found  by  the  mediaeval  church  in 
the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity ;  (2)  but  it  is  far 
more  likely  that  it  is  due  to  convenience.  The 
three-fold  division   of  most  subjects  insures  suffi- 


1  i( 


Morning  Exercises,"  Vol.  V.,  Nichol's  edition. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 65 

cient  thoroughness  of  treatment,  and  yet  escapes 
tediousness.  The  preacher  readily  remembers 
three  points,  the  hearer  as  readily  carries  them 
away  in  his  mind.  The  division  into  three  is 
applicable  to  many  texts.  How  better  for  instance 
can  you  treat  the  words  of  Pharaoh's  daughter  to 
the  mother  of  Moses,^  ''Take  this  child  away, 
and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy 
wages,"  than  by  considering  in  their  order  the 
nurse,  the  child,  and  the  wages }  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  will  often  be  found  that  while 
further  analysis  would  reduce  the  number  to  two, 
the  preacher  is  so  wedded  to  his  rule  of  three 
that  he  refuses  to  part  with  it.  A  sermon  on  the 
familiar  text,^  *'  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ,"  etc.,  is  happily  divided  into  *'  First, 
what  Paul  thought  was  the  gospel,"  and  "  Secondly, 
what  Paul  thought  the  gospel  was."  Why  then 
add  (as  the  preacher  does),  "  Thirdly,  what  Paul 
felt  about  the  gospel  "  ?  Is  not  this  point  really 
the  conclusion  }  Does  it  not  furnish  a  rare  oppor- 
tunity for  personal  appeal  in  closing  the  discourse  .-* 
Indeed,  two  divisions  have  been  sufficient  for 
some  of  the  ablest  preachers,^  and  where  a  third 
has  been  added  it  is  often  capable  of  ready  demon- 
stration that  it  might  better  be  treated  as  a  con- 
clusion simply.  Before  it  is  reached  the  preacher 
oftener  than  not  has  spent  his  force.  To  tack 
so  near  port  when  there  is  just  wind  enough  to 

^  Exod.  2:9,  2  Rom.  I  :  16. 

3  Bossuet,  Fenelon,  F.  W.  Robertson. 


1 66  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

carry  the  ship  in,  is  to  prolong  the  voyage  to  no 
purpose. 

IV.  We  will  now  enumerate  some  qualities 
which  should  be  found  in  the  divisions  of  discourse. 

I.  Endeavor  then,  first,  to  make  your  divisions 
interesting.  Monotony  of  divisions,  whether  in 
the  number  or  in  the  wording  of  them,  is  to  be 
avoided. 

(i)  Study  freshness  in  this  matter.  How  ad- 
mirable, for  example,  is  the  treatment  of  Paul's 
familiar  injunction  ^'  Be  careful  for  nothing,"  etc.,^ 
which  announces  as  a  theme  ''Paul's  Sure  Cure 
for  Care,"  and  for  division :  I.  A  Precept. 
II.  A  Prescription.  III.  A  Promise.^  "Beelze- 
bub Driving  and  Drowning  his  Hogs  "  is  how 
John  Burgess  an  earlier  preacher,  words  his  theme, 
and  the  expectation  which  this  arouses  is  not  dis- 
appointed by  what  follows  :  "In  these  words  the 
devil  verified  three  old  English  proverbs  ;  which 
as  they  contain  the  general  drift  of  my  text  ^  shall 
also  contain  the  substance  of  this  ensuing  dis- 
course. I.  The  devil  will  play  at  small  game 
rather  than  none  at  all  ('All  the  devils  besought 
him,  saying,  Send  us  into  the  swine ').  II.  They 
run  fast  whom  the  devil  drives  ('When  the  un- 
clean spirits  entered  into  the  swine  the  whole  herd 
ran  violently').  III.  The  devil  brings  his  hogs  to 
a  fine  market  ('  Behold  the  whole  herd  ran  down 
a  steep  place  into  the  sea'),"  etc. 

1  Phil.  4  :  6,  7.  2  h.  L.  Wayland,  D.  d. 

3  Matt.  8  :  30-32. 


PARTS    OF    THE    SERMON  1 6/ 

(2)  Yet  remember  that  freshness  of  divisions 
must  not  be  gained  at  the  expense  of  the  true 
meaning  of  the  text.  The  German  pastor  of  the 
last  century  who  preached  from  the  words/  **  But 
the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered," 
violated  this  rule  when  he  prepared  to  speak,  I. 
Of  our  hair.  II.  Of  the  right  use  of  the  human 
hair.  III.  Of  the  memories,  admonitions,  warn- 
ings, and  consolation  that  have  come  from  the 
human  hair.  IV.  Of  how  hair  can  be  used  in  a 
Christian  way."  ^  And  certainly  the  Puritan  car- 
ried his  advocacy  of  Calvinism  into  a  strange  court 
when  he  treated  the  words,  ''So  Mephibosheth 
dwelt  in  Jerusalem ;  for  he  did  eat  continually 
at  the  king's  table;  and  was  lame  on  both  his 
feet,"^  in  this  original  way:  "My  brethren,  we 
are  here  taught  the  doctrine  of  human  depravity : 
'Mephibosheth  was  lame.'  Also  the  doctrine  of 
total  depravity:  He  was  'lame  on  both  his  feet' 
Also  the  doctrine  of  justification:  'He  dwelt  in 
Jerusalem.'  Fourth,  the  doctrine  of  adoption: 
*He  did  eat  at  the  king's  table.'  Fifth,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints:  'He  did 
eat  at  the  king's  table  continually.' 

(3)  A  desire  for  freshness  of  division,  again, 
does  not  justify  the  eccentricity  which  often  borders 
so  close  on  irreverence.  That  pregnant  wit  and  ex- 
cellent divine,  Thomas  Fuller,  seems  to  exceed  his 
commission  as  a  preacher  of  truth  and  soberness 

1  Matt.  10  :  30.       ^  Hurst,  "History  of  Rationalism,"  p.  70. 
'2  Sam.  9  :  13, 


l68       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

when,  discoursing  on  the  text,  "Thou  wilt  make 
all  his  bed  in  his  sickness,"^  he  dwells  with  most 
emphasis  on  the  word  "all,"  and  details  on  the 
pillow,  the  bolster,  the  head,  the  feet,  the  sides, 
and  so  on :   "  All  his  bed." 

2.  That  the  divisions  of  a  discourse  should  be 
clear  is  our  next  point.  The  meaning  of  each 
division  ought  to  be  made  so  evident  when  it  is 
announced  that  it  needs  no  further  explanation. 
To  explain  a  division  is  to  define  a  definition. 
Here  it  is  well  to  recall  Daniel  Webster's  answer 
when  he  was  asked  how  he  obtained  his  clear 
ideas.  He  replied,  "By  attention  to  definitions." 
Spend  much  time,  therefore,  in  simplifying  the 
form  in  which  divisions  are  cast,  and  the  English 
in  which  they  are  expressed.  Such  a  text  as 
"  God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  ^  is  sublime 
in  its  suggestion  of  mystery,  but  what  can  justify 
the  obscurity  of  this  division  of  it  in  a  recent  dis- 
course }  "  The  text  naturally  divides  itself  into 
three  parts  :  First,  we  have  presented  to  us  the 
transcendental  properties  of  the  divine  nature. 
Second,  we  have  the  anthropomorphic  relations 
under  which  those  transcendental  properties  in 
the  divine  nature  stand  revealed  and  become  ap- 
prehensible. Third,  we  have  the  appropriate  sym- 
bolism by  which  those  anthropomorphic  relations 
and  illustrations  of  the  transcendental  properties 
in  the  divine  nature  constitute  worship." 

iPs.  41  :  3.  2  John  4  :  24. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 69 

Divisions  which  are  quickly  understood  and 
readily  remembered  are  the  best.  At  a  distance 
of  several  years  an  intelligent  layman  recalled  a 
sermon  which  he  had  heard  from  a  popular 
preacher  on  the  fall  of  Samson,  ''The  Philistines 
took  him,  and  put  out  his  eyes,"  etc.,^  by  its  main 
points  ;  which  are  indeed  admirable  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  their  religious  application  :  "  The  Blinding, 
Binding,  and  Grinding  Effect  of  Sin."  When 
the  Rev.  John  McNeill,  preaching  from  the 
words,  "He  said  unto  Simon,  Launch  out  into  the 
deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a  draught,"^ 
announces  as  his  divisions,  "  Launching  Out,  Let- 
ting Down,  and  Leaving  All,"  he  makes  sure  that 
anyhow  his  hearers  will  remember  the  leading 
lines  of  his  sermon.  You  may  be  certain  that 
any  confusion  in  divisions  in  your  sermon,  and  any 
difficulty  in  keeping  the  thoughts  expressed  in 
them  in  their  right  places,  must  be  traced  to  a  lack 
of  clearness.  You  have  not  attended  to  your 
fences,  and  the  sheep  are  straying  from  one  pas- 
ture to  another.  The  remedy  for  this  is  not  to 
run  after  each  sheep  that  wanders,  but  to  repair 
and  strengthen  your  fences.  These  discursive 
thoughts — wandering  stars  in  your  firmament — 
owe  their  existence  to  your  failure  to  observe 
Webster's  principle  to  pay  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion to  definition. 

3.  The  divisions  of  a  discourse  should  not  only 
be  interesting  and  clear,  they  should  also  be  pro- 

^  Judg.  16  :  21.  ^'Luke  5  :  4. 


I/O  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

gressive.  Are  there  times  when  in  composing  or 
in  delivering  your  sermon  you  find  it  difficult  to 
pass  without  a  dislocating  jar  from  one  division  to 
another  ?  In  all  probability  this  arises  from  im- 
perfect partition.  Some  link  in  your  plan  of 
thought  is  either  lacking  or  superfluous.  Observe 
it  therefore  as  a  law  in  homiletics  that  divisions 
should  be  logical  and  practical.  They  must  be  in 
their  right  place  in  the  discourse,  and  they  must 
serve  the  true  end  of  the  discourse.  There  is  a 
peculiar  pleasure  with  which  hearers  follow  preach- 
ers who  scale  and  conquer  successive  peaks  in  a 
chain  of  thought.  It  is  equivalent  to  the  joy  of 
conquest  with  which  we  trace  the  victorious 
progress  of  a  military  campaign.  We  may  illus- 
trate this  by  a  story.  It  is  said  that  a  young 
student  for  the  ministry,  whose  father  was  one  of 
the  chaplains  at  the  court  of  the  Prince  of  Orange 
in  the  last  century,  was  suddenly  called  upon  to 
preach  before  the  prince,  who  had  heard  marvel- 
ous stories  of  his  skill.  With  scarcely  any  notice 
he  was  pushed  into  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  courtly  and  noble  audience  announced  as 
his  text,  the  narrative  of  the  eunuch  who  desired 
I'hilip  to  come  up  into  the  chariot  and  enlighten 
him  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  scripture  which  he 
was  reading.^  The  young  preacher  found,  he  said, 
four  wonders  in  this  passage,  which  he  would 
make  the  four  heads  of  his  sermon.  "  Wonder 
the  first,  A   courtier  reads.     Wonder  the  second, 

1  Acts  8  :  27-38. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  I7I 

A  courtier  reads  the  Bible.  Wonder  the  third,  A 
courtier  owns  himself  ignorant  of  his  subject. 
Wonder  the  fourth,  A  courtier  applies  to  a  minis- 
ter of  Christ  for  information,  listens  to  his  instruc- 
tion, and  follows  his  counsel."  Here  the  sense  of 
progress  is  a  delight  to  almost  any  hearer — with 
the  possible  exception  of  the  prince  who  provoked 
it.  Robert  Hall,  who  was  a  master  of  logical  pre- 
cision, from  the  words  '*  Beloved,  now  are  we  the 
sons  of  God,"^  deduces  these  three  progressive 
points :  I.  The  felicity  of  the  future  world  is 
very  imperfectly  known  ("It  doth  not  yet  appear," 
etc.).  H.  But  the  period  is  coming  when  it  will 
be  known  ("  When  he  shall  appear  ").  HI.  The 
effect  of  this  will  be  a  perfect  knowledge  of  Christ, 
and  a  conformity  to  him  ("  When  he  shall  appear, 
we,"  etc.).  And  a  preacher  of  our  own  time  illus- 
trates this  same  excellence  of  progress  in  thought 
when  he  divides  the  text,  "  While  ye  have  the 
light,  believe  in  the  light ;  that  ye  may  become 
sons  of  light "  ^  into  "Our  Day,  Our  Duty,  and 
Our  Destiny." 

4.  Interesting,  clear,  and  progressive  divisions 
should  also  be  symmetrical.  There  must  be  pro- 
portion in  the  various  parts.  Three  rules  wilj 
assist  us  here. 

(i)  Divisions  should  be  related  to  one  another 
in  the  progress  of  thought.  If  the  sermon  is  to 
remain  in  the  mind,  whether  of   preacher  or  of 

^  I  John  3  :  2. 
2  George  Adam  Smith,  d.  d.,  on  John  12  :  36,  Rev.  Ver. 


172  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

hearer,  each  division  should  be  so  formed  as  to 
suggest  the  one  which  follows.  This  will  be  in- 
sured if  you  have  taken  your  thought  from  the 
text  and  followed  the  logical  sequence  of  ideas. 
You  will  think  the  thought  of  the  passage  after  it. 
Spurgeon  preaching  on  the  cure  of  the  man 
sick  of  the  palsy  ^  divides  his  sermon  happily  until 
he  reaches  his  last  point :  *'  I.  Four  men  anxious 
about  one.  11.  A  man  who  went  in  through  a 
roof  and  came  out  at  the  door.  III.  A  man  going 
in  on  a  bed  and  coming  out  with  the  bed  on  him. 
IV.  Somebody  grumbled."  The  mind  is  so  sat- 
isfied with  the  quaint  arrangement  of  the  three 
points,  that  there  is  a  sense  of  surprise  not  wholly 
grateful  when  a  fourth  is  added. 

(2)  Divisions  should  bear  a  due  proportion  the 
one  to  the  other.  Even  the  generous  latitude  of 
a  camp-meeting  rebels  against  the  preacher  who 
thus  opened  up  a  sermon  on  the  sublime  words, 
''  Lo,  these  are  parts  of  his  ways ;  but  the  thun- 
der of  his  power  who  can  understand .-*" ^  "In 
discoursing  upon  this  passage  I  shall,  in  the  first 
place,  review  the  chapter  and  show  what  is  meant 
by  the  word  'these.'  I  shall,  in  the  second  place, 
mention  some  of  the  works  of  God.  I  shall,  in 
the  third  place,  conclude  according  to  circum- 
stances, light  and  liberty  being  given."  It  is  hard 
to  see  from  what  quarter  either  light  or  liberty 
could  come  to  such  a  preacher  as  this. 

(3)  Divisions  should  bear  recapitulation.     If  at 

^  Mark  2  :  4.  '''Job  26  :  14. 


PARTS    OF    THE    SERMON  1/3 

the  close  of  your  sermon  you  cannot  readily  re- 
call the  divisions,  and  if  they  do  not  naturally  suc- 
ceed one  another,  you  may  be  sure  that  they  are 
faulty.  It  is  not  your  memory  that  is  to  be 
blamed.  That  will  do  its  work  if  furnished  with 
the  proper  material.  Adolphe  Monod,  who  had  all 
the  Frenchman's  clearness  and  compactness  alike 
in  his  thought  and  his  expression,  has  a  sermon  on 
"The  tears  of  Paul,"^  in  which  he  draws  a  par- 
allel between  them  and  those  which  his  Master 
shed.  As  you  read  his  points  you  will  see  at  once 
how  easily  they  can  be  retained  in  the  memory. 
"  Paul  shed  tears  of  suffering  and  pain  ;  tears  of 
pastoral  solicitude ;  tears  of  natural  affection  and 
friendship.  Herein  is  the  servant  in  holy  parallel- 
ism with  his  Master  ;  for  three  times  it  is  recorded 
of  Jesus  that  he  wept :  tears  at  Gethsemane,  tears 
over  Jerusalem,  tears  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus. 
Paul's  ministry,  like  his  Master's,  was  a  ministry 
of  tears." 

One  word  in  conclusion.  In  this  important 
matter  of  divisions  do  not  yield  at  once  to  passing 
fashions  or  transient  fancies  or  groundless  preju- 
dice. The  great  masters  of  pulpit  eloquence  in 
our  own  century,  and  especially  those  who  have 
revolutionized  our  methods  of  preaching — such 
men  as  F.  W.  Robertson,  Alex.  Maclaren,  and 
C.  H.  Spurgeon,  have  with  scarcely  an  exception 
used  divisions,  and  even  announced  them  in  a 
formal  manner.     The  disposition  to  make  every- 

1  Acts  20  :  31. 


174       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

thing  subordinate  to  rhetoric  will  perhaps  tempt 
you  to  resent  a  distinct  and  clearly  announced  par- 
tition of  your  subject.  The  temptation  to  indo- 
lence and  insufficient  preparation  will  possibly  be- 
guile you  into  making  a  talk  and  mistaking  it — if 
your  foolish  mind  be  sufficiently  darkened — for  a 
sermon.  The  sermon  is  no  more  a  display  of 
rhetorical  skill  than  it  is  a  string  of  disconnected 
platitudes.  In  contrast  with  these,  it  should  be 
a  careful  and  intelligent  exposition  and  enforce- 
ment of  the  passage  which  you  have  chosen  for 
your  text.  If  order  be  heaven's  first  law,  then 
why  shall  not  our  sermons  by  the  clearness  and 
conclusiveness  of  their  logical  advance  justify  our 
claim  to  hold  our  credentials  from  th's  skies  ? 


PARTS  OF  THE  SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


Special  care  to  be  bestowed  on  the  Conclusion  of  the  sermon. 

I.  Of  What  the  Conclusion  May  Consist. 

1.  Of  recapitulation. 

2.  Of  application. 

3.  Of  appeal. 

4.  Of  rhetorical  peroration. 

5.  Of  Scripture. 

II.  Features  Which  Should  Distinguish  the  Conclusion. 

1.  It  should  be  personal  to  the  hearer. 

2.  It  should  apply  to  the  whole  sermon. 

3.  It  should  not  be  too  long. 

4.  It  should  be  marked  by  variety. 
Conclusion  :  How  Long  Should  a  Sermon  Be. 

1.  Ancient  custom. 

2.  Long  sermons  chiefly  post-reformation. 

3.  The  present  disposition  favors  short  sermons. 

4.  Considerations  determining  the  length  of  the  sermon  :  (i) 

The  audience  ;    (2)  The  theme  ;  (3)  The  time  of  year  ;  (4) 
The  preacher  ;  (5)  The  method  of  delivery. 
Remember:  (i)  Short  sermons  are  not  necessarily  brief ;  (2)  The 
more  study  the  shorter  sermon  ;  (3)    Be  independent  in 
this  matter  ;  (4)  Yet  exercise  common  sense. 


XII 

PARTS    OF    THE    SERMON    (CONTINUED) 

Of  the  various  parts  of  the  sermon  the  most 
pains  should  be  given  to  the  introduction  and  the 
conclusion  ;  to  the  introduction  be- 
cause it  is  the  first  step  that  counts :  '^^  Conclu- 
to  the  conclusion  because  no  two 
congregations  being  precisely  alike  in  number  or 
in  condition  of  mind,  the  preacher  will  have  no 
other  opportunity  with  this  audience.  Of  these 
two  probably  the  conclusion  is  the  more  important. 
Therefore  we  should  learn  a  lesson  from  Napoleon, 
and  reserve  the  heaviest  battalions  for  the  close. 
"The  only  part  of  my  speech  that  I  prepare," 
said  John  Bright,  **is  the  conclusion.  I  always 
know  how  and  when  I  am  going  to  stop." 

We  will  consider  the  various  ways  of  treating 
this  part  of  the  sermon,  and  the  features  by 
which  it  should  be  marked. 

I.  Of  what  the  conclusion  may  consist. 

I.  Recapitulation.  This  is  especially  necessary 
in  an  argumentative  sermon  when,  as  also  in  a  case 
at  law,  you  go  over  the  various  points  already 
dealt  with,  and  review  the  evidence  which  you 
have  brought  in  substantiation  of  your  thesis. 
In  recapitulating,  the  danger  is  that  you  fall  into 

M  lyy 


178  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

repetition.  All  that  you  should  aim  to  do  is  to 
revive  recollection.  You  are  now  in  a  position  to 
survey  the  field,  and  it  is  not  necessary  that  you 
should  fight  your  battle  all  over  again.  Vary  your 
language  therefore ;  avoid  the  phrases  which  you 
have  previously  used ;  choose  your  words  with 
great  care ;  pack  your  sentences  closely ;  and  by 
compression  gain  cumulative  force.  "  In  your  in- 
troduction," a  homely  Welsh  preacher  was  wont 
to  counsel  young  preachers,  ''  show  the  people 
where  you  are  going,  and  in  your  application  re- 
mind them  where  you  have  been."  So  Phillips 
Brooks  begins  this  part  of  one  of  his  sermons 
with  these  words :  "  Thus,  then,  I  have  passed 
through  the  ground  which  I  proposed.  See  where 
our  thought  has  led  us."^ 

2.  Application.  There  was  a  time  when  this 
was  a  much  more  common  conclusion  than  it  is 
now,  and  often  it  did  extraordinary  execution.^ 
But  the  inevitable  danger  which  threatens  any 
good  practice  followed.  With  monotonous  itera- 
tion the  preacher  fell  into  the  accustomed  formula, 
and  addressed  his  words  first  to  the  regenerated, 
then  to  the  sinner.  Human  nature,  whether  in 
the  one  or  in  the  other  of  these  classes,  craves  va-' 
riety.  From  Ennius,  the  Roman  poet,  comes  the 
protest  which  is  still  needed :  "  A  little  moralizing 
is  good,  a  little ;  I  like  a  taste,  but  not  a  bath  of 
it."     Robertson,  of  Irvine,  addressing  a  crowd  of 

^  Sermon  from  John  17:3. 
«Dr.  \V.  M.  Taylor,  "The  ScoUish  Pulpit,"  p.  108. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  179 

children  in  Glasgow,  held  their  close  attention  by 
his  stories  until  his  conscience  whispered  that  it 
was  time  to  point  his  moral.     He  had   scarcely 

said,  "  Now  this  teaches  us "  when  a  little  street 

arab  in  the  front  bench  cried,  "  Never  mind  what 
it  teaches.  Gie's  another  story."  "  I  learned," 
said  he,  *'  from  that  rascal  to  wrap  the  moral  well 
in  the  heart  of  the  story ;  not  to  put  it  as  a  sting 
into  the  tail.  For  stories  are  like  pictures,  and 
their  lesson  should  be  felt,  but  never  obtruded." 
The  same  holds  good  as  to  the  applications  in  a 
sermon.  Always  reserve  them  for  the  conclusion, 
and  they  are  almost  sure  to  become  stale  and 
pointless  by  frequent  use,  to  be  anticipated  in  the 
previous  discussion  of  the  subject,  and  to  come 
when  the  hearer  is  forearmed  because  forewarned 
and  on  his  guard,  or  else  is  too  tired  to  feel  the 
force  of  your  remarks.  Far  wiser  is  the  preacher 
who  learns  how  to  carry  a  thread  of  application 
through  the  entire  sermon.^ 

And  yet  while  this  important  element  in  the 
preacher's  power  should  not  be  kept  until  the 
close  of  his  discourse,  it  is  equally  unfortunate  to 
let  the  sermon  die  out  with  no  sort  of  application, 
thereby  warranting  the  old  whaler's  comment 
upon  his  pastor's  effort :  "  A  nice  sermon  enough, 
but  there  was  no  harpoon  in  it."  Daniel  Webster 
protested  against  the  same  omission  when  he  said, 
"  When  I  attend  upon  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel, I  wish   to  have  it  made  a  Personal  matter,  a 

^  Dale,  "Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  146. 


l8o       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

Personal  matter,  a  Personal  Matter."  To  borrow 
Sir  Thomas  Browne's  quaint  phrase,  do  not  "  con- 
clude in  a  moist  relentment."  Do  not  fail,  how- 
ever, when  you  are  thus  bringing  home  to  the 
hearts  of  your  hearers  the  truths  of  the  sermon, 
to  distinguish  earnestness  from  vehemence.  Some 
intensely  earnest  and  close  applications  are  calm 
and  sober.  Nathan  did  not  thunder  his  words  of 
doom  at  guilty  David ;  ^  a  measured  tone  carried 
every  syllable  of  Elijah's  tremendous  message 
home  to  the  ears  of  Ahab,^  and  the  voice  which 
had  cried  so  loudly  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea 
sank  into  quieter  but  not  less  impressive  tones 
when,  in  the  dungeon  of  Machaerus,  John  the  Bap- 
tist reproved  Herod  for  his  crimes.^  In  this  re- 
served force  lies  much  of  the  power  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  *'  whose  doctrine  is  all  application,  and 
his  application  all  doctrine."^ 

3.  Again,  the  conclusion  may  consist  of  appeal. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  only  faculty  which 
should  certainly  be  dealt  with  as  the  sermon  draws 
to  its  close  is  the  conscience.  The  final  chance 
has  now  come  to  the  preacher.  Alas  for  him  and 
for  his  hearers  if  he  merit  the  crushing  condem- 
nation which  Dr.  J.  Duncan,  of  Edinburgh,  passed 
on  an  ineffective  sermon :  ''  The  idea  of  the 
preacher  is  in  the  sentence  after  the  last."  Be  on 
your  guard  against  concluding  with  any  vague 
generalities.     Never    resort    to    the    treasury   of 

*  2  Sam.  12  :  7.  '  i  Kings  17  :  I.  ^Luke  3  :  19,  20. 

*  Dr.  John  Duncan. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  l8l 

platitudes  which  has  always  been  such  a  source  of 
weakness  to  the  pulpit.  Let  the  final  note  be 
well  defined,  clear,  pointed.  John  Wesley  was 
not  without  warrant  in  his  criticism  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Robert  Hall,  ''  You  do  not  hear  the  voice 
which  says,  'Thou  art  the  man.' "  ^ 

4.  As  a  fourth  way  of  concluding  a  sermon,  we 
mention  the  rhetorical  peroration.  Although  it  is 
the  fashion  at  the  present  time  to  speak  of  this  as 
though  it  were  a  weapon  belonging  to  an  extinct 
method  of  warfare,  I  am  convinced  that  it  may  be 
used  with  great  effect  on  certain  occasions.  There 
is  no  good  evidence  that  it  has  had  its  day  and 
ceased  to  be.  The  charm  which  lies  in  genuine 
oratory  is  not  for  an  age  but  for  all  time.  Study 
the  perorations  of  Massillon^  and  the  other  great 
French  preachers  of  the  seventeenth  century,  of 
Robert  Hall  and  Thomas  Chalmers,  of  J.  M.  Mason, 
of  Henry  Melvill,  and  James  Parsons,  of  York,^ 
of  Morley  Punshon,  and  Dr.  John  Caird.  Without 
any  ambitious  or  artificial  straining  after  effect, 
the  peroration  should  be  based  on  the  whole  of  the 
sermon,  and  its  impressive,  earnest,  and  cumula- 
tive thought  may  naturally  find  expression  in  lan- 
guage more  ornate  and  rhetorical  than  that  which 
has  been  previously  used. 

A  most  effective  conclusion  can  often  be  built 
up  from  the  Bible  itself.     Here  the  preacher  has 

^  See  2  Cor.  5  :  20,  for  a  model  conclusion. 

^ E.  g.,  "Funeral  Oration  for  Louis  XIV." 

^"Public  Speaking  and  Debate,"  by  G.  J.  Holyoake,  p.  193. 


1 82       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

the  advantage  of  language  which  comes  home  to 
the  heart  with  the  music  of  a  familiar  and  dearly 
loved  strain,  and  to  the  conscience  with  the  au> 
thority  of  God  himself.^  And  we  may  add  that 
whatever  has  been  the  nature  of  his  conclusion, 
he  will  do  well,  oftener  than  not,  to  close  with  the 
words  of  his  text.  Make  sure  that  this  shall  re- 
main as  the  final  impression.  How  happily  Spur- 
geon  illustrates  this  in  one  of  his  early  sermons, 
from  the  text,  "  Come,  see  the  place  where  the 
Lord  lay."  ^  "  Ye  timid  ones,  do  not  be  afraid  to 
approach,  for  'tis  no  vain  thing  to  remember  that 
timidity  buried  Christ.  Faith  would  not  have 
given  him  a  funeral  at  all.  Fear  buried  him. 
Nicodemus,  the  night  disciple,  and  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea,  secretly,  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  went  and 
buried  him.  Therefore,  ye  timid  ones,  ye  may  go 
too.  Ready-to-halt,  poor  Fearing,  and  thou,  Mrs. 
Despondency  and  Much-afraid,  go  often  there ;  let 
it  be  your  favorite  haunt,  there  build  a  tabernacle, 
there  abide.  And  often  say  to  your  heart  when 
you  are  in  distress  and  sorrow,  '  Come,  see  the 
place  where  the  Lord  lay.' " 

II.  What  are  the  chief  features  which  should 
be  found  in  the  conclusion. 

I.  I  answer,  first,  that  the  conclusion  should  be 
personal  to  the  hearer.  It  would  seem  as  if  while 
he  is  speaking  the  center  of  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  preacher  shifts.     At  first,  as  is  most  nat- 

^  For  examples,  see  the  "Sermons of  William  Jay." 
2  Matt.  28  :  6. 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 83 

iiral,  he  deals  chiefly  with  his  subject.  He  is  per- 
haps in  closer  touch  with  that  than  he  is  with  his 
congregation.  But  as  his  discourse  proceeds  he 
finds  himself  increasingly  drawn  to  them.  His 
grasp  of  his  weapon  is  now  so  secure  that  he  can 
watch  its  effect.  And  when  the  last  ten  minutes 
are  reached  he  has  come  to  close  quarters  and  is 
looking  his  hearers  full  in  the  face.  Any  sense  of 
distance  is  fatal  here.  You  cannot  land  in  mid- 
ocean.  Festus  is  not  on  the  judgment  seat  when 
he  cries,  "  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself,"  or 
Agrippa  when  he  sneers,  ''with  but  little  persua- 
sion thou  wouldst  fain  make  me  a  Christian." 
These  men  for  the  moment  feel  the  touch  of  him 
who  with  no  sense  of  distance  lays  his  fettered 
hand  on  their  hearts,  and  concludes,  "I  would  to 
God  that  whether  with  little  or  with  much,  not 
thou  only,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  might 
become  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds."  ^ 

2.  As  a  second  feature,  the  conclusion  should 
apply  to  the  whole  sermon.  Take  care  that  it  is 
not  simply  a  conclusion  of  some  one  part  or  head 
of  the  discourse.  Before  beginning  to  compose 
it,  accustom  yourself  to  pause  in  the  preparation 
of  your  sermon,  and  carefully  read  over  what  has 
been  already  written.  Glance  through  the  plan, 
and  see  that  the  conclusion  is  in  line  with  the  en- 
tire subject,  from  the  introduction  forward. 

3.  The  conclusion  should  not  be  too  long.  Be- 
ware of  what  lawyers  call  "overlaying  a  case,"^ 

^Acts  26  :  29,  Rev.  Ver.       '^  Harris,  "On  Advocacy,"  p.  159. 


184       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

and  remember  the  important  distinction  of  Rob- 
ert Hall,  **  It  is  one  thing  to  stop ;  another  to  fin- 
ish." You  can  stop  ;  but  if  the  sermon  be  worthy 
of  the  name  it  cannot  be  finished.  The  old  Puri- 
tans were  wont  to  say — although  in  this  matter 
they  preached  better  than  they  practised — that  it 
was  wiser  to  send  the  people  away  longing  than 
loathing;  and  Hesiod's  famous  dictum,  *'the  half 
is  more  than  the  whole,"  has,  I  think,  an  unin- 
tended bearing  on  our  present  point.  Learn  to 
leave  well  alone,  and  to  cease  firing  when  your 
ammunition  is  gone.  Congregations  know  blank 
cartridges,  and  they  are  not  afraid  of  them.  As 
you  value  your  reputation  for  truthfulness  and  fair 
play  do  not  announce  that  you  mean  to  conclude 
and  then  fail  to  keep  your  promise.  Do  not  say, 
*'  Finally  ...  In  conclusion  .  .  .  One  word  more 
.  .  .  And  now  before  we  part ."  This  is  to  re- 
call Pope's  ode,  only  in  no  seraphic  mood, 

Trembling,  hoping,  lingering,  flying ; 
Oh,  the  pain,  the  bliss  of  dying  ! 

Why  should  your  sermon  be  like  Charles  II., 
"such  an  unconscionable  time  in  dying".?  The 
consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished  can  best  be 
reached  by  having  one  clearly  defined  conclusion 
and  no  more.  Your  hearers  will  soon  come  to 
recognize  when  this  is  reached,  and  they  are  not 
unreasonable  if  they  resent  another  turn  in  the 
wilderness  when  Canaan  has  been  brought  so 
near.     A  French  preacher  takes  his  seat  for  the 


PARTS    OF   THE   SERMON  1 85 

moment  with  a  congregation  tortured  by  false 
hopes  and  ilkisive  promises ;  and  thus  he  pictures 
their  feehngs :  '*  And  now  there  are  signs  of  the 
end.  On  the  horizon  we  see  the  gray  dawn  of 
something  that  might  be  an  application  or  conclu- 
sion. Alas !  we  are  wrong.  The  end  is  not  yet. 
There  is  another  and  another.  The  unhappy  man 
is  searching  for  a  good  closing  sentence,  and  can- 
not find  one."  Notwithstanding  what  has  been 
said  as  to  care  in  the  preparation  of  this  part  of 
the  sermon,  we  should  add  that  there  is  no  part 
which  the  preacher  will,  if  he  be  master  of  him- 
self, of  his  subject,  and  of  his  audience,  hold  more 
loosely.  In  the  course  of  your  conclusion,  are 
you  strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
the  moment  has  come  for  you  to  stop.-*  Then 
stop.  As  Luther  puts  it :  "When  thou  seest  thy 
hearers  most  attentive,  then  conclude,  for  so  they 
will  come  again  more  cheerfully  the  next  time." 

4.  As  a  fourth  feature,  the  conclusion  should  be 
marked  by  variety.  Let  the  character  of  your 
sermon  decide  the  character  of  your  conclusion. 
In  practical  sermons,  deal  more  largely  with  mo- 
tives ;  in  historical  sermons,  draw  effective  lessons ; 
in  sermons  which  are  largely  argumentative,  sum  up 
conclusions.  Plainly,  there  can  be  no  one  uniform 
rule  as  to  this.  The  schools  of  rhetoric  formerly 
decreed  that  the  conclusion  should  be  divided  into 
inferences,  applications,  and  lessons.  When  the 
preacher  said,"  From  this  consideration  of  our  sub- 
ject, we  infer "  the  congregation  knew  that  the 


1 86       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

moon  of  his  conclusion  was  in  her  first  quarter. 
Our  freer  modes  of  treatment  have  rebelled  against 
this  prescribed  allotment  of  the  parting  words,  and 
now  it  is  rather  by  our  increasing  directness  and 
earnestness  that  our  hearers  perceive  that  this 
stage  has  been  reached.  As  a  general  thing  the 
preacher  does  well  to  let  it  be  known,  even  in 
so  many  words,  if  necessary,  that  he  is  about 
to  conclude  his  discourse.  And  we  counsel 
also  that  it  is  wise  occasionally  to  break  the  tyr- 
anny of  custom  by  concluding  in  a  novel  way. 
What  you  are  in  the  habit  of  doing,  refrain  from 
doing.  Instead  of  an  appeal,  put  a  question. 
Leave  the  application  to  the  hearer's  conscience. 
A  sudden  silence,  broken  only  by  a  few  parting 
words  of  prayer,  may  arrest  attention  where  a 
train  of  reflections  would  fail  to  gain  a  hearing. 
Perhaps  Paul's  departing  from  Athens  stimulated 
inquiry.  It  was  when  the  Jews  sought  Jesus  at 
the  feast  and  found  him  not  that  multitudes  began 
discussing  who  and  what  he  was.^ 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked.  How  long 
should  a  sermon  be }  The  answer  has  varied  with 
the  centuries.  The  Latin  Fathers  usually  occu- 
pied half  an  hour,  although  often  they  limited 
themselves  to  ten  minutes.  The  Greek  Fathers, 
as  we  might  expect  from  a  comparison  of  the  lan- 
guages in  which  the  sermons  were  preached,  were 
longer.  The  fashion  for  long  sermons  came  in 
after  the  Reformation.     Charles  II.  was  willing  to 

ijohn  7  :  12. 


PARTS    OF    THE   SERMON  1 8/ 

listen  to  Baxter  for  two  hours.  The  delivery  of 
one  of  his  massive  sermons  occupied  Charnock  not 
less  than  three  hours  and  a  half.  At  the  planting 
of  the  First  Church,  Woburn,  Mass.,  the  discourse 
lasted  four  or  five  hours  ;  this  seeming  to  be  the 
point  beyond  which  taking  any  accurate  account 
of  time  was  futile.  The  present  disposition  is  to 
demand  short  sermons.  At  a  bookseller's  shop 
in  London  John  Henry  Newman  saw  sermons 
labeled  :  "  Warranted  orthodox,  not  preached  be- 
fore, and — 20  minutes."  *•  Twenty  minutes  with 
a  leaning  to  mercy  "  was  the  pithy  way  in  which  an 
English  judge  answered  our  question.  Even  Mr. 
Spurgeon  considered  forty  minutes  sufficient  for 
a  discourse,  and  he  himself  rarely  exceeded  that 
time.  Abbe  Mullois  says .  ''  The  harangues  of 
Napoleon  only  lasted  a  few  minutes,  yet  they 
electrified  whole  armies.  In  fifteen  weeks,  with  a 
sermon  of  seven  minutes  every  Sunday,  one  might 
give  a  complete  course  of  religious  instruction  if 
the  sermons  were  well  digested  beforehand."  So 
short  a  time  as  ten  minutes  would  not  suffice  for 
the  preacher  who  had  not  to  harangue,  as  did 
Napoleon,  nor  simply  to  exhort  or  declaim,  as  is 
the  practice  of  many  Romish  preachers  ;  but  rather 
to  explain,  instruct,  and  apply.  A  true  sermon 
cannot  be  limited  as  a  brief,  impassioned  harangue 
can. 

The  length  of  the  sermon  must  depend  upon  the 
character  of  the  subject  to  be  discussed,  upon  what 
measure  the  congregation  has  been  accustomed  to. 


1 88  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

upon  the  preacher  himself,  and  even  upon  such 
minor  considerations  as  the  seasons  of  year  or  the 
time  of  the  day  in  which  it  is  delivered.  It  may 
also  be  added  that  a  sermon  which  is  extemporane- 
ous can  be  at  least  five  minutes  longer  than  a  ser- 
mon which  is  read  from  a  manuscript.  But  in  any 
case,  as  Luther  says,  "Know  when  to  stop."  Leave 
something  for  next  time.  Exhaust  neither  your 
theme  nor  your  audience.  Close  at  a  point  short 
of  that  reached  by  the  Spanish  proverb  :  "  We  have 
still  to  skin  the  tail."  Yet  I  would  have  the  young 
preacher  who  cultivates  brevity  reflect  that  short 
sermons  are  not  necessarily  lively.  One  can  be 
very  dull  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  An  English 
bishop  after  hearing  one  of  his  clergy  preach, 
remarked:  "Your  sermon  was  very  short,  sir." 
"Yes,  my  lord,  I  thought  it  better  to  be  brief  than 
tedious."  "Oh,  but  you  were  tedious."  As  a  rule 
the  more  study  you  put  into  your  sermon  the 
shorter,  because  the  more  compact  will  it  be. 
What  Pascal  wittily  says  of  one  of  his  "  Provincial 
Letters "  holds  true  here  also  :  "  I  would  have 
made  it  shorter  if  I  could  have  kept  it  longer." 
You  will  soon  find  yourself  preaching  for  about 
the  same  time  every  Sunday  without  needing  to 
refer  to  your  watch,  and  if  on  any  occasion  you 
exceed  it,  you  may  be  assured  of  hearing  of  that 
sermon  before  long  from  some  time-serving  mem- 
ber of  your  congregation. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON 


SUMMARY 


The  sermon  a  work  of  art.  As  a  composition,  should  have  in  it 
Statement,  Argument,  Illustration.  Before  dealing  with  these  we 
consider  the  Literary  and  Oratorical  qualities  in  the  sermon. 

I.  The  Literary  Quality  in  the  Sermon. 

1.  Estimate  at  its  true  value  the  literary  form  of  the  discourse  : 

( 1 )  Thus  the  preacher's  message  reaches  the  congregation  ; 

(2)  Literary  superiority  attracts  and  holds  hearers  ;  (3)  The 
style  cannot  be  separated  from  the  thought ;  (4)  There  is 
a  moral  element  in  style;  (5)  Advantages  of  having  to 
speak  in  English. 

2.  Write  carefully  :  (i)  Take  time;  (2)   Habitually  write  your 

best. 

3.  Write  constantly. 

4.  Aim  at  freshness  and  finish  :   (i)  At  freshness  :   (a)  Use  the 

language  of  daily  life  ;   {d)  Acquire  a  rich  and  varied  style  ; 
(r)  Study  the  style  of  other  preachers  ;  [(/)  Note  your  own 
style  carefully;   (2)  At  finish  :  (a)  Take  time  in  selecting 
the  right  word  ;   (d)  But  do  not  elaborate  over  much. 
Note.     As  to  quotations. 

II,  The  Oratorical  Quality  in  the  Sermon. 

1.  The  advantages  of  the  quality. 

2.  How  it  comes  :  ( i )  Is  the  result  of  possessing  the  oratorical 

instinct ;  (2)  But  can  be  strengthened. 

3.  How  it  shows  itself :  ( i )  In  the  choice  of  words  ;  (2)  In  the 

arrangement  of  sentences  ;  (3)  In  the  impression  made  by 
the  whole  sermon:  {a)  Keep  it  true  in  its  proportion; 
[d)  Expand  when  expansion  is  needed;  (c)  Let  the  prin- 
cipal thought  remain  prominent. 


XIII 

RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON 

As  much  as  a  building  or  a  picture  the  sermon 
may  be  regarded  as  a  work  of  art.  It  is  put 
together  according  to  a  definite  plan, 
and  with  a  distinct  purpose.  There-  Literary  and 
fore  we  speak  of  it  as  a  composition, 
for  whether  in  art  or  literature  "  by  composition 
is  meant  the  distribution  and  orderly  placing  of 
things,  both  in  general  and  particular."^  Rus- 
kin's  broad  statement  holds  good  in  the  making 
of  the  sermon  as  well  as  in  the  making  of  the 
picture  :  "  Composition  may  be  best  defined  as  the 
help  of  everything  in  the  picture  by  everything 
else."  ^  So  that  when  we  speak  of  the  sermon  as 
a  composition  we  have  in  mind  the  several  parts 
of  which  it  is  made  up,  so  harmoniously  arranged 
and  subordinated  to  the  whole  as  to  produce  the 
true  effect. 

As  a  composition  the  sermon  should  have  in  it 
an  element  of  statement,  which  may  be  largely 
exegetical,  an  element  of  argument,  and  an  element 
of  illustration.  Proving,  painting,  and  persuading, 
were  "the  three  P's  "  in  Thomas  Guthrie's  homilet- 
ics.    The  successful  employment  of  these  elements 

iDryden.  ^  "Modern  Painters,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  165. 

191 


192       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

will  depend  in  part  on  the  preacher's  sermon  style, 
on  its  general  quality  as  suitable  to  literary  com- 
position, and  on  its  special  quality  as  suitable  to  a 
composition  intended  to  be  spoken.  In  this  chap- 
ter we  propose  to  deal  with  this  subject  and  con- 
sider the  literary  and  oratorical  elements  in  the 
sermon. 

I.  The  literary  quality  in  the  sermon  needs  to 
be  considered  first. 

Dean  Swift  in  his  sarcastic  description  of  the 
shallow  freethinkers  of  his  day  sneers  at  ''that 
quality  of  their  voluminous  writings  which  the 
poverty  of  the  English  language  compels  me  to 
call  their  style."  It  would  be  well  had  the  Dean's 
gibe  applied  to  freethinkers  only.     But  it  does  not. 

I.  As  our  first  point,  therefore,  we  would  counsel 
the  preacher  to  estimate  at  its  true  value  the  liter- 
ary form  of  his  discourse. 

(i)  It  is  important  because  it  is  the  form  in 
which  the  preacher's  message  gets  to  his  congre- 
gation. 

(2)  Beyond  question  literary  superiority  attracts 
and  holds  hearers.  Unconsciously  to  themselves 
audiences  are  critical  of  language.  A  congregation 
of  peasants  in  a  country  chapel  in  England  sat  in 
judgment  upon  a  certain  preacher  because  "he 
used  half-crown  words  when  sixpenny  ones  would 
have  served."  ^ 

(3)  Moreover,  we  can  no  more  consider  the  style 
of  the  sermon  apart  from  its  thought,  than  we  can 

1  "Memoir  of  Dr.  R.  W.  McAll,"  p.  146. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      1 93 

consider  the  pith  of  the  tree  apart  from  its  wood. 
Style  is  closely  connected  with  thought.  To  write 
well  is,  as  Renan  says,  to  think  well.  There  is  no 
art  of  style  distinct  from  the  culture  of  the  mind. 
Good  training  of  the  mind  is  the  only  school  of 
good  style  ;  wanting  that,  you  have  merely  rhetoric 
and  bad  taste.  We  have  not  yet  outgrown  Blair's 
maxim,  *'  Embarrassed,  obscure,  and  feeble  senti- 
ments are  generally  if  not  always  the  result  of 
embarrassed,  obscure,  and  feeble  thought." 

(4)  May  we  not  even  go  further  than  this,  and 
assert  that  to  a  certain  extent  the  style  of  the 
sermon  is  a  reflection  of  the  character  of  the 
preacher  ^  "  Look  in  thy  heart,  and  write,"  said 
Sir  Philip  Sydney.  Gibbon  held  that  "the  style 
of  the  author  should  be  the  image  of  his  mind  "  ; 
and  Emerson  touched  the  same  truth  when  he 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  "  style  is  the  revelation 
of  the  inner  self." 

(5)  It  is  inspiring  for  us  to  reflect  that  the 
preacher  who  uses  English  as  his  speech  possesses 
a  very  noble  medium  of  communication.  More  and 
more  as  the  years  pass,  for  us  to  be  beholden  to  the 
great  metropolitan  English  speech  will  be  to  launch 
out  upon  ''  the  sea  which  receives  tributaries  from 
every  region  under  heaven."  ^  Perhaps  it  is  neces- 
sary also  to  remind  the  young  preacher  that  with 
an  increase  of  culture  our  hearers  become  more 
exacting  in  this  matter  of  the  use  of  good  English 
by  their  ministers.     Neither  in  nor  out  of  the  pul- 

^  Emerson,  "Society  and  Solitude." 

N 


194       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

pit  should  language  either  slipshod  or  slang  be 
tolerated.  The  preacher  should  in  this,  as  in  other 
and  higher  matters,  be  an  example  to  the  flock. 
''Everybody  writes  so  well  now,"  Tennyson  once 
said  half-complainingly ;  and  the  day  is  coming,  let 
us  hope,  when  everybody  will  speak  so  well  as 
to  demand  from  the  ministry  **  sound  speech  that 
cannot  be  condemned." 

We  counsel  the  preacher  to  read  constantly  in 
the  writings  of  the  best  masters  of  pure,  sinewy, 
and  melodious  English.  The  works  of  De 
Quincey,  Macaulay,  Emerson,  Matthew  Arnold, 
Cardinal  Newman,  J.  A.  Froude,  and  John  Ruskin, 
will  furnish  good  models,  and  the  most  varied 
taste  should  find  pleasure  as  well  as  profit  in  the 
masterpieces  of  one  or  more  of  these  great  writers. 

2.  As  a  second  point,  we  urge  on  the  preacher 
to  write  carefully.  Let  it  be  granted  at  once  that 
continuous  sermon  writing  is  not  easy.  George 
William  Curtis  said  that  seeing  it  took  him  three 
months  to  prepare  a  lecture,  how  a  clergyman 
could  prepare  two  sermons  a  week  fit  to  deliver 
before  an  audience,  he  could  not  understand; 
John  Bright  was  wont  to  say  the  same  thing. 
Undoubtedly  the  labor  of  conscientious  literary 
work  in  any  department  is  more  severe  than  those 
who  are  strangers  to  it  suppose.  "A  distress," 
says  John  Henry  Newman,  "  sometimes  so  keen 
and  so  specific  that  it  resembles  nothing  else  than 
bodily  pain,  is  the  token  of  the  wear  and  tear  of 
the  mind."     The  fact  that  the  preacher  deals  so 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      1 95 

largely  with  the  emotions  adds  to  this  burden  in 
composition.  Such  considerations  as  these  must 
be  kept  in  mind  in  order  to  make  us  faithful  in  our 
pulpit  preparation. 

(i)  By  all  means  take  time  over  your  sermons. 
''  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  write  against  Time,  and 
Time  always  is  even  with  us  in  the  end,  and  he 
never  lets  what  is  written  against  him  last  very 
long  or  go  very  far.^  Begin  to  prepare  your  ser- 
mon early  in  the  week.  Thomas  Spencer,  a  young 
English  preacher  of  rare  promise,  was  accidentally 
drowned  on  Monday  morning,  but  the  outlines  of 
the  sermons  for  the  next  Sunday  were  found  in 
his  pocket.  *'To  secure  thought  and  preparation," 
counsels  Bishop  Wilberforce,  "  begin,  whenever  it 
is  possible,  the  next  Sunday's  sermon  at  least  on 
the  preceding  Monday.  Do  not  listen  to  the 
pleading  of  indolence  or  let  the  bidding  of  a  fas- 
tidious spirit  wait  for  the  afflatus  which  is  held  by 
many  to  constitute  the  whole  peculiarity  of  genius." 
To  his  students  Dr.  Chalmers  said :  "  I  would  have 
you  all  sit  down  doggedly ;  for  if  you  once  be- 
think yourselves  of  waiting  for  the  afflatus,  the 
risk  is  that  the  afflatus  never  may  come."  ^ 

(2)  And  we  may  add  as  another  counsel :  Ac- 
custom yourself  to  write  your  best  on  all  occa- 
sions. Charles  Lamb,  the  essayist,  used  to  say 
that  his  most  careful  writings  were  in  the  ledgers 
of  the  East  India  Company  whose  clerk  for  all  his 

1  J.  R.  Lowell. 
*  Hanna,  "Life  of  Chalmers,"  Vol.  XL,  Chap.  L 


196  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

active  life  he  was,  and  Anthony  Trollope,  the  nov- 
elist, who  was  employed  in  the  General  Post  Of- 
fice, London,  speaks  of  the  infinite  pains  which  he 
took  with  the  reports  that  he  prepared  for  his  em- 
ployers. These  are  illustrations  of  the  wise  words 
of  a  conscientious  American  writer:  "He  who 
does  not  write  as  well  as  he  can  on  every  occasion, 
will  soon  form  the  habit  of  not  writing  well  at 
all."i 

3.  Our  third  point  naturally  follows.  Write 
constantly.  Without  insisting  upon  any  hard  and 
fast  rule  which  should  be  binding  on  all  preachers, 
it  is  certainly  fair  to  say  that  he  who  cannot  write  in 
full  one  sermon  every  week  has  mistaken  his  voca- 
tion. If  your  method  is  to  preach  without  man- 
uscript, all  the  more  necessary  is  it  that  you  write .^ 
The  habit  of  writing  as  a  means  of  mental  cul- 
ture was  one  characteristic  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
as  a  preacher  which  he  retained  through  life.^ 
Robert  Hall  lays  down  as  "a  rule  admitting  of  no 
exception,  that  a  man  will  speak  well  in  proportion 
as  he  has  written  much."  His  own  practice 
would  suggest  that  we  substitute  for  the  word 
''written"  the  word  "composed."  It  maybe  pos- 
sible to  train  ourselves  as  he  did,  to  put  long  trains 
of  thought  into  words  without  writing  a  line. 
But  this  is  not  common,  nor  is  it  a  practice  to  be 
desired.  The  secret  of  good  talking  is  to  talk 
with  the  pen. 

» George  Ripley.      « W.  M.  Taylor,  "Scottish  Pulpit,"  p.  183. 
3  Allen's  "  Life  of  Edwards,"  p.  4. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      1 9/ 

4.  Finally,  aim  at  freshness  and  finish  in  your 
composition. 

(i)  At  freshness.  To  this  end  use  the  language 
of  daily  life.  "  Our  preaching  is  much  addicted  to 
a  few  words ;  it  holds  on  to  phrases  when  lapse  of 
time  has  changed  their  meaning."  ^  Avoid  this  by 
cultivating  a  more  copious  vocabulary.  Preaching 
is  conversation  raised  to  its  highest  power.  Those 
who  heard  Mr.  Spurgeon  heard  the  finest  illustra- 
tion of  his  own  opinion  that  '*  the  perfection  of 
preaching  is  to  talk."  When  Thomas  Guthrie 
found  this  out  he  abandoned  the  traditional  pulpit 
phraseology,  spoke  as  he  would  on  a  platform  or 
in  a  parlor,  and  compelled  the  reluctant  English 
critic  to  declare  that  he  was  the  foremost  preacher 
of  his  generation.^  One  of  the  most  original  of 
preachers,  Robertson,  of  Irvine,  changed  his  style 
on  the  advice  of  a  lady  of  his  congregation,  who 
told  him  that  his  manner  of  speaking  in  the  pulpit 
savored  too  much  of  the  schools.  "In  conversa- 
tion you  are  most  natural  and  powerful.  Bring 
your  conversational  manner  of  thinking  and  speak- 
ing into  the  pulpit.  Adopt  it  there,  and  your  dis- 
course will  be  most  effective." 

Endeavor  to  acquire  a  style  which  will  be  rich 
and  varied.  Terence  resolved  to  make  it  a  princi- 
pal rule  of  life  not  to  be  too  much  addicted  to  one 
thing,  and  in  our  composition  the  same  rule  is  use- 
ful. Cultivate  what  Sydney  Smith  terms  ''  multi- 
fariousness of  style." 

^Emerson.  *  The  London  "Times,"  newspaper. 


198  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

Avoid  those  conventional  platitudes  which  lie  in 
wait  for  every  preacher,  and  are  sure  to  betray 
him  who  does  not  carefully  weigh  his  words.  De- 
molish a  commonplace  with  a  happily  chosen 
phrase.^  Not  a  word  suitable  to  your  thought,  but 
tJie  word  is  what  you  are  after.  The  sermons  of 
other  preachers  may  with  profit  be  studied  in  this 
matter  of  style,  and  especially  the  sermons  of  the 
preachers  of  the  present  time.  The  day  for  what 
were  formerly  called  ''great  sermons"  is  not  now. 
''We  don't  preach  now-a-days,"  said  Phillips 
Brooks,  "as  they  used  to  do  when  a  man  was 
known  by  some  great  sermon,  like  Robert  Hall's 
on  'Modern  Infidelity.'"  Our  style  is  bound  to 
adjust  itself  to  the  age. 

Note  carefully  your  own  style  as  you  adventure 
with  it  on  the  sea  of  experience.  It  is  like  a  boat 
which  you  must  learn  to  know  and  to  handle. 
"  This  word,"  you  say  to  yourself  as  you  look  back 
when  the  sermon  has  been  delivered,  "told."  Ask 
yourself  why  it  told.  "That  word  failed.  Why.?" 
Endeavor  to  have  a  style  of  your  own.  Think 
your  thoughts  clear  through,  clothing  them  in  the 
words  which  fit  them  the  best.  This  will  give 
you  what  is  called  "distinction"  of  style.  Your 
words  will  now  be  not  yours  so  much  as  you.^ 

(2)  Aim  at  finish.  Beginning  your  work  of 
preparation  early  in  the  week,  you  will  be  able  to 
take  time  in  selecting  the  right  word.     One  popu- 

lA.  S.  Hill,  *'Our  English,"  pp.  154,  155. 
'^  "John  Foster's  Life,"  p.  117. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      1 99 

lar  novelist  of  the  present  day  will  wait  an  hour  if 
necessary  for  his  word.  Shelley  sooner  than  use 
an  inferior  word  left  a  blank  in  his  lines  when  the 
right  word  did  not  occur  to  him.  To  express  accu- 
rately the  shimmer  of  the  long  grass  or  the  shade 
of  green  under  the  breaking  wave  another  poet 
would  pause  and  watch  and  think  for  weeks  to- 
gether. Although  we  shall  not  be  able  to  do  this, 
yet  it  is  well  for  us  to  lay  to  heart  what  John  Mor- 
ley  says :  "  It  is  not  everybody  who  can  command 
the  mighty  rhythm  of  the  greatest  master  of  hu- 
man speech.  But  every  one  can  make  reasonably 
sure  that  he  knows  what  he  means,  and  whether 
he  has  found  the  right  word."  Cardinal  Newman, 
treating  of  this  subject,  says:  "My  one  and  single 
desire  has  been  to  do  what  is  so  difficult,  namely, 
to  express  clearly  and  exactly  my  meaning."  No 
man  in  the  Victorian  era  better  succeeded  in  do- 
ing this  than  did  Newman. 

And  yet  there  may  be  some  preachers  who  need 
to  be  cautioned  against  elaborating  over  much. 
The  exigencies  of  the  pulpit  make  this  failing 
rare.  The  "  Give,  Give,"  which  sounds  in  our  ear 
its  demand  for  the  two  sermons  every  week, 
hushes  the  whisperings  of  a  fastidious  taste.  It 
may  be  some  consolation  to  us  who  would  readily 
bestow  more  time  on  polishing  our  sermon  if  only 
the  time  were  to  be  had,  to  reflect  that  after  all  con- 
stant and  careful  writing  is  sure  to  give  to  our 
style  all  the  finish  that  is  necessary.  An  extreme 
fastidiousness  often  caused  Dr.  F.  J.  A.  Hort  to 


200       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

sit  hour  after  hour  in  the  spell  of  a  sort  of  apha- 
sia which  robbed  him  for  the  time  of  all  power  of 
expression.  But  assuredly  *'a  sermon,  like  a  tool, 
may  be  polished  till  it  has  no  edge."^  The 
preacher's  style  may  become  featureless  through 
excess  of  finish ;  and  with  Andrea  del  Sarto  we 
may  sigh  : 

All  is  silver  gray, 

Placid  and  perfect  with  my  art ;  the  worse  ! 

Better  listen  to  Spurgeon's  homely  warning  to 
his  students  against  sermons  which  are  prepared 
till  there  is  no  living  zeal  possible  in  connection 
with  them,  "  Brethren,  you  will  never  grow  any- 
thing out  of  boiled  potatoes."  Conscious  that  his 
own  style  was  in  danger  of  becoming  too  meas- 
ured, he  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  Carlyle  in 
order  to  gain  rugged  and  abrupt  forms  of  speech. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  put  into  a  few 
sentences  what  needs  to  be  said  as  to  the  habit  of 
quoting  from  others.  Do  not,  then,  be  afraid  to 
quote  when  to  do  so  is  effective.  **  He  that  never 
quotes  will  never  be  quoted."  ^  Never  quote  in  any 
other  language  than  the  vernacular.  Beware  of 
quoting  overmuch,  and  so  reducing  your  sermon 
to  a  mosaic,  brilliant  only  with  stones  from  various 
and  strange  mines.  There  are  preachers  who  re- 
call the  inelegant  criticism  which  Byron  passed  on 
Hazlitt,  that  ''  his  style  suffered  from  a  cutaneous 
eruption."      Trite    and    commonplace   quotations 

^  Job  Orton.  ^  Spurgeon. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE  SERMON   201 

should  certainly  be  avoided.  In  making  prose 
quotations  it  seems  not  to  be  necessary  to  acknowl- 
edge your  indebtedness  to  another  when  the  words 
are  familiar  ;  and  where  you  do  refer  to  the  author 
it  is  wise  to  do  it  in  the  briefest  manner.  Atten- 
tion must  not  be  diverted  from  the  main  subject 
of  the  discourse.  If  you  are  not  gifted  with  a 
good  verbal  memory  it  may  be  best  to  clothe  the 
thought  in  your  own  words,  and  in  this  case  a  gen- 
eral acknowledgment  of  indebtedness  will  suffice. 
As  to  quotations  from  poetry,  the  fewer  the  better. 
Beware  of  hackneyed  lines  and  couplets  from  the 
hymn  book.  To  conclude  a  sermon  with  poetry 
is  open  to  the  objection  that  it  gives  to  the  dis- 
course an  air  of  self-consciousness  and  artfulness. 
Occasionally  it  may  be  done  with  great  effect,  but 
the  practice  of  rounding  off  a  discourse  with  a  line 
of  poetry  is  to  be  deprecated.  Prose  is  after  all 
the  natural  language  for  earnest  address  ;  and  the 
sermon  should  be  never  so  much  a  sermon  as  in 
its  closing  words.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  in 
making  poetical  quotations  it  is  not  necessary  to 
acknowledge  that  you  are  indebted  for  them  to  an- 
other. If  the  poetry  is  poor  it  should  not  be 
quoted  at  all.  If  it  is  good  you  can  trust  the 
congregation  not  to  credit  you  with  a  gift  which 
you  do  not  possess. 

II.  We  proceed  to  speak  in  the  next  place  of 
the  oratorical  quality  in  the  sermon. 

I.  We  inquire  first,  what  are  the  advantages  of 
this  quality  ?     I  answer,  it  is  this  gift  of  oratory 


202  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

by  which  in  a  very  large  measure  the  preacher 
commands  the  emotion  of  his  hearers,  "  The  ob- 
ject of  the  speaker,"  it  has  been  said,  and  the  dis- 
tinction is  a  true  one,  "  is  to  give  information ;  the 
object  of  the  orator  is  to  incite  to  action.  The 
speaker  ilhimines  the  understanding;  the  orator 
impels  and  directs  the  passions.  The  speaker  is  a 
guide ;  the  orator  is  a  master.  Speech  is  light ; 
the  oration  is  force.  "^  Times  in  the  history  of 
preaching  when  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  sneer  at 
this  great  power  have  been  times  of  pulpit  decay. 
**  We  have  no  sermons  that  are  addressed  to  the 
passions  that  are  good  for  anything,"  complained 
Dr.  Johnson  in  the  dreary  years  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. For  this  reason  he  hesitated  to  say  what 
sermons  afforded  the  besl  specimens  of  pulpit 
eloquence.  In  accounting  for  the  remarkable 
power  of  Mr.  Spurgeon  it  has  perhaps  not  been 
sufficiently  considered  that  his  sermons,  while  not 
critical  or  in  any  great  extent  exegetical,  are  all 
evolved  from  the  heart.  They  come  from  the 
emotions  and  go  to  the  emotions.  Truth  was 
scarcely  truth  to  him  until  it  had  been  through 
the  fires  of  his  own  experience.  *^The  heart,"  as 
Augustine  said,  "makes  the  theologian." 

2.   We  ask,  again,  how  does  this  quality  come  ? 

(i)  In  the  first  instance,  no  doubt,  the  oratori- 
cal quality  in  the  sermon  is  the  result  of  the  ora- 
torical instinct  in  the  preacher.  Eloquence,  un- 
like rhetoric,  is  inborn,  and  he  who  has  it  not  as  a 

^  George  Jacob  Holyoake. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      2O3 

native  possession  will  never  be  able  to  acquire  it. 
John  Foster  was  gifted  with  the  highest  literary 
skill,  but  he  was  entirely  wanting  in  oratorical 
power.  We  read  his  essays  with  all  the  delight 
which  is  kindled  by  a  delicate  and  critical  choice 
of  language,  and  a  felicity  of  diction  perhaps  un- 
surpassed in  English  writers ;  but  listen  to  him 
when  he  speaks,  and  you  agree  with  Robert  Hall : 
"Though  his  words  might  be  fire  within,  the  mo- 
ment they  left  his  lips  they  froze  and  fell  down  at 
his  feet."  The  sermon  which  sounds  well  when 
read  is  not  always,  nor  indeed  often,  the  sermon 
which  does  the  most  execution  when  it  is  spoken. 
"Does  it  read  well.?"  Charles  James  Fox  in- 
quired about  a  speech  which  had  been  delivered  in 
the  British  House  of  Commons.  "Yes,  grandly." 
"Then  it  was  not  a  good  speech." 

(2)  And  yet  he  who  possesses  in  any  degree 
this  gift  of  natural  oratory  can  strengthen  and  im- 
prove it  by  cultivation  and  practice.  He  who  is 
accustomed  to  speak  frequently  learns  in  time  how 
best  to  make  his  points,  and  how  to  arrange  and 
discharge  his  material.  Especially  does  this  skill 
show  itself  when  he  is  making  the  transition  from 
one  division  of  his  sermon  to  another.  The  most 
difficult  art  to  one  who  is  beginning  to  speak  in 
public,  becomes  at  length  so  easy  and  natural  to 
him  that  it  is  with  a  sense  of  triumph  that  he  ap- 
proaches the  point  where  his  transition  occurs. 
He  sees  the  bridge  by  which  the  gulf  can  be 
crossed,  and  he  treads  it  with  conscious  mastery 


204  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

3.   How  then,  it   may   be  asked,  does   the  ora- 
torical quality  in  a  sermon  show  itself  ? 

(i)  In  the  choice  of  words.  Those  which  are 
used  will  be  resonant  in  utterance.  They  will 
carry  farthest,  and  make  the  readiest  and  strong- 
est impression  on  the  hearer.  They  will  be  nerv- 
ous and  yet  unaffected,  and  above  all  they  will  be 
the  words  best  suited  to  his  purpose.  **  Under- 
standing language  and  the  positive  degree,"  so 
runs  Emerson's  comment  on  the  oratory  of  Dan- 
iel Webster,  "all  his  words  tell.  What  is  small  he 
shows  as  simple,  and  makes  the  great  great." 
Words  which  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  their 
length,  words  which  do  not  readily  reveal  their 
meaning,  words  which  are  superfine  or  affected  are 
to  be  rejected.  *'  Particularly,"  says  Dr.  Joseph 
Parker,  "  strike  out  all  such  words  as  '  methinks  I 
see,'  'cherubim  and  seraphim,'  'the  glinting  stars,* 
*the  stellar  heavens,'  'the  circumambient  air,'  'the 
rustling  wings,'  'the  pearly  gates,'  'the  glistening 
dew,'  '  the  meandering  rills,'  and  '  the  crystal  battle- 
ments of  heaven.'  I  know  how  pretty  they  look 
to  the  young  eye,  and  how  sweetly  they  sound  in 
the  young  ear;  but  let  them  go  without  a  sigh." 
This  is  not  to  condemn  vivid  and  dramatic  words. 
By  all  means  train  yourself  in  the  use  of  them. 
When  not  exaggerated,  they  are  most  effective. 
The  selfishness  of  the  unprincipled  labor  agitator 
was  exposed  at  a  touch  when  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
declared  that  "  for  himself  he  had  no  sympathy  for 
an    eight-hour    man    with    a  fourteen-hour  wife." 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      205 

Our  own  petitions  rose  in  condemnation  of  our 
practice  when  he  also  said  that  many  of  us 
"prayed  cream  and  Hved  skim-milk." 

(2)  This  oratorical  quality  in  the  discourse  shows 
itself  in  the  arrangement  of  the  sentences,  and  of 
the  various  parts  of  the  sermon.  The  climax  is 
the  result  of  three  things :  of  thought,  which  in 
the  sermon  grows  from  more  to  more ;  of  rhetoric 
which  helps  the  sermon  to  rise  to  loftier  heights 
of  expression  at  the  points  where  it  can  produce 
the  best  effect ;  of  delivery,  which  swells  in  form 
and  intensifies  in  fervor  as  each  coign  of  vantage 
in  argument  and  appeal  is  gained.^ 

(3)  The  oratorical  quality  can  be  traced  in  the 
impression  which  the  whole  sermon  makes  on  the 
minds  of  the  hearers. 

In  each  part  of  the  sermon  let  the  proper  pro- 
portion be  observed.  Do  not  be  so  prolix  in  the 
earlier  stages  that  you  leave  yourself  no  time  to 
complete  the  discourse  symmetrically.  Many  a 
sermon  lacks  the  topstone  because  so  much  time 
has  been  spent  on  the  foundations.  In  architecture, 
the  base  of  the  column  is  designedly  made  plain, 
because  the  capital  which  is  its  crowning  glory  is 
richly  carved. 

Expand  in  your  composition  when  expansion 
seems  to  be  needed.  A  leading  lawyer  gave  it  as 
his  opinion  in  talking  upon  this  subject  with  C.  G. 
Finney,  that  preachers  are  needlessly  afraid  ci 
repetition.     Words,  phrases,  even  whole  sentences 

*A.  S.  Hill,  *'  Principles  of  Rhetoric,"  p.  192. 


206  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

may  be  repeated  when  to  do  so  makes  the  meaning 
plainer,  and  the  sermon  more  effective.  The  rep- 
etition of  embarrassed  exhaustion  is  one  thing, 
the  repetition  of  rhetorical  enforcement  is  quite 
another.  What  our  congregations  resent  is  not 
the  second  of  these.  **Bulk,"  as  Whately  pithily 
says,  "  is  necessary  to  digestion.  Most  men  are 
like  horses,  they  need  straw  to  their  oats."  What 
has  been  said  as  to  the  writer  is  even  more  true  as 
to  the  speaker :  "  An  author  who  finds  himself 
obliged  to  choose  between  repetition  and  obscurity, 
ought  not  to  doubt  as  to  his  choice."  Of  one  of 
her  characters  George  Eliot  observes,  '*  It  was  a 
defensive  measure  of  Sir  Hugo  Mallinger's  to 
mingle  purposeless  remarks  with  the  expression  of 
serious  feeling,"  No  doubt  there  has  been  far  too 
much  of  this  done  in  the  pulpit.  In  urging  that 
in  common  with  other  speakers  the  preacher  cul- 
tivate the  art  of  expanding  his  thought  in  words, 
I  shall  not  be  understood  to  plead  for  the  platitudes 
for  which  the  pulpit  has  been  not  without  reason 
condemned.  Very  different  is  the  repetition  and 
expansion  of  the  true  orator.  Listen  to  Lacor- 
daire  as  he  dwells  on  our  Lord's  Commission  to  his 
apostles,  and  see  how  one  simple  sentence  can  be 
clothed  with  splendor :  "  *  Go  teach  all  nations.' 
Fear  neither  the  difficulties  of  foreign  tongues,  nor 
the  differences  of  manners,  nor  the  power  of 
secular  governments.  Consult  not  the  course  of 
rivers  nor  the  direction  of  mountain  ranges ;  go 
straight  on.     Go  as  the  thunder  of  him  who  sent 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      20; 

you,  as  the  creative  word  went,  which  carried  life 
into  chaos,  as  the  eagles  go,  and  the  angels." 
This  is  rhetoric  indeed,  the  rhetoric  of  a  spoken 
style,  but  it  is  rhetoric  directed  only  to  the  appre- 
hension and  enforcement  of  the  very  truth  which 
found  its  simplest  expression  in  the  few  pregnant 
words,  *'  Go  teach  all  nations." 

So,  as  our  final  counsel  here,  we  say.  See  to  it 
that  when  the  sermon  is  completed  the  principal 
thought  stands  out  clearly  before  the  mind  of  your 
hearer.  Lvman  Beecher  was  wont  to  assert  that 
a  sermon  should  have  one,  and  but  one,  "  burning 
point."  The  power  of  Chalmers  lay  here.  He 
held  that  one  point  up  to  his  congregation,  as  a 
lapidary  holds  up  the  diamond,  until  every  facet  of 
it  caught  the  light.  That  our  hearers  should  be 
able  to  travel  all  the  lines  of  statement,  argument, 
and  illustration  by  which  the  burning  point  has 
been  reached  is  not  necessary.  Enough  if  the 
impression  remain.  The  truth  embodied  in  the 
theme  is  the  truth  finally  impressed  on  the  mind, 
enshrined  in  the  heart,  enthroned  in  the  con- 
science. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON— Continued 


o 


SUMMARY 


I.  What  is  Pulpit  Exegesis? 

Etymology  of  the  word.     Concerned,  in  the  first  instance,  with 
verbal  analysis.     Distinct  from  exposition  ;  but  essential  to  it. 

II.  What  does  Pulpit  Exegesis  Require? 

1.  A  written  revelation. 

2.  An    intelligent   interpretation   of    Scripture  ;     ( I )  Spiritual 

qualities  needed:  («)  Faith;  (<^)  Reverence  ;  (^)  Unc- 
tion. (2)  Intellectual  qualities  needed.  A.  The  homi- 
letical  instinct.  B.  Scholarly  tastes  and  habits  ;  Seen  :  (^) 
In  accurate  treatment  of  the  text ;  (d)  In  vigorous  treat- 
ment of  the  theme.  C  Logical  acuteness.  D.  Sound 
judgment. 
Counsels. 

III.  The  Advantages  of  Exegesis  in  the  Sermon. 

1.  It  tends  to  hold  the  preacher  down  to  his  office. 

2.  It  is  in  keeping  with  the  philosophic  method  of  research. 

3.  It  carries  with  it  a  sense  of  authority.      ( i )  Its  influence  on 

the  preacher  ;  (2)  Its  influence  on  the  congregation. 


XIV 

rhetorical  elements  in  the  sermon 
(continued) 

The  intellectual  foundations  of  the  sermon 
should  be  laid  in  statement.  When  the  sermon 
rises  in  the  main  from  the  text,  it  is 
natural  that  this  element  of  state- 
ment  should  be  largely  exegetical.  In  this  chapter 
we  propose  to  consider  pulpit  exegesis,  and  to  ask 
what  it  is,  what  it  requires  on  the  part  of  the 
preacher,  and  how  an  intelligent  use  of  it  will  be 
of  benefit  both  to  him  and  to  his  congregation. 

I.  What  then  is  pulpit  exegesis  ? 

The  etymology  of  the  word  suggests  that  it 
means  the  bringing  out  into  the  light  of  clear 
understanding  of  an  idea  which  is  shut  up  in 
language.  In  the  first  instance  it  concerns  itself 
with  verbal  analysis  ;  but  because  words  in  the 
Bible  stand  to  represent  thought  it  inevitably  deals 
with  the  truths  of  which  the  words  are  only  the 
expression.  Although  exegesis  will  often  result  in 
exposition,  it  yet  remains  distinct  from  it,  in  that 
it  keeps  closer  to  the  interpretation  of  words ;  but 
great  harm  has  been  done  by  expository  sermons 
which  have  been  prepared  in  willful  or  unconscious 
ignorance  of  exegesis.     Pulpit  exegesis  consists  in 

211 


212  THE   MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

gathering  up  the  results  of  the  grammatical  inter- 
pretation of  the  Scriptures,  and  incorporating  them 
in  the  sermon/  The  word  "  came,"  in  Matt.  20  : 
28  ("  Even  as  the  Son  of  man  came,"  etc.),  sug- 
gests to  Dr.  Maclaren  a  theme,  ''Christ's  teaching 
about  his  birth  " ;  and  furnishes  him  with  an  intro- 
duction in  which  he  refers  to  some  other  occasions 
in  which  our  Lord  spoke  of  himself  as  coming, 
and  then  opens  up  the  three  main  thoughts  of  the 
sermon  itself. 

II.  What  does  pulpit  exegesis  require } 
I.  Plainly,  first  of  all,  a  written  revelation. 
There  can  be  no  interpretation  of  thought  until  it 
has  first  found  expression  in  some  permanent  out- 
ward form.^  For  this  reason  every  return  to  the 
thought  of  Scripture  has  been  attended  by  a  re- 
vival of  exegesis.  Erasmus,  by  publishing  his 
edition  of  the  New  Testament ;  Melanchthon,  by 
his  commentary  on  Romans  ;  Colet,  by  lecturing  on 
the  Epistles  of  Paul  in  Oxford,  and  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer  in  London,  helped  to  lay  the  foundations 
for  Protestant  exegesis.  At  the  heart  of  the  Ref- 
ormation of  the  sixteenth  century  burned  this 
impelling  passion  for  an  intelligent  apprehension 
of  what  the  words  of  the  Bible  meant.  *'  When 
I  was  a  monk,"  says  Luther,  "  I  allegorized  every- 
thing ;  but  now  I  have  given  up  allegorizing,  and 
my  first  and  best  art  is  to  explain  the  Scriptures 

1  Professor  Briggs,  ''Biblical  Study,"  Chap.  II. 
'Dr.  Thos.    Arnold,    "Essay  on   the  Interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture."     "Sermons,"  Vol.  II. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      213 

according  to  the  proper  sense ;  for  it  is  in  the 
literal  sense  that  power,  doctrine,  and  art  reside." 

2.  Pulpit  exegesis  also  requires  an  intelligent 
interpretation  of  the  written  revelation.  The  call 
to  the  Christian  ministry  carries  with  it  the  promise 
of  divine  aid  in  interpreting  the  word  of  God,^  but 
this  in  no  arbitrary  or  miraculous  way.  We  will 
glance,  therefore,  at  some  of  the  qualities  which 
will  aid  the  preacher  who  aims  to  excel  in  exegesis. 
These  qualities  are  spiritual  and  intellectual. 

(i)  What  spiritual  qualities  will  he  need } 

(a)  First,  Faith.  The  delight  in  verbal  analysis 
which  the  preacher  feels  should  be  chiefly  due  to 
his  conviction  that  now  he  is  penetrating  into  the 
true  meaning  of  God's  word.  He  is  thinking  the 
thoughts  of  God  after  him.  So  Luther  expressed 
a  truth  which  all  church  history  corroborates  when 
he  declared  his  conviction  that  '*  if  ever  the  Bible 
is  to  be  given  to  the  world,  it  must  be  by  those 
who  are  Christians,  and  have  the  mind  of  Christ." 

[d)  A  second  spiritual  quality  will  be  Reverence. 
This  will  not  only  carry  the  preacher  into  the  heart 
of  v/ords  that  are  rich  in  divine  truth,  so  that  what 
to  others  is  only  a  barren  bush  to  him  will  burn 
with  the  presence  of  God,  but  it  will  also  temper 
his  pleasure  in  expounding  the  Bible  with  a  devout 
respect  for  its  authorship,  origin,  and  purpose. 

If  we  have  real  reverence  for  Scripture  and  a  firm  belief 
in  that  which  it  declares,  we  shall  never  strain  a  single  one 
of  its  words  or  phrases,  or  strain  a  single  fact  to  make  it  fit 

1  I  Cor.  4  :  I,  2 ,   2  Cor.  2:17;   2  Tim.  2  :  i,  2. 


214  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

them.  Abstinence  from  such  dishonesty  will  assuredly 
bring  its  reward  in  clearer  apprehension  of  the  whole  record 
hereafter.  ^ 

(c)  A  third  and  very  important  spiritual  quality  is 
Unction.  We  are  often  surprised  by  the  insight  of 
some  simple-minded  and  illiterate  student  of  the 
Bible,  who  will,  with  no  knowledge  of  Hebrew  or 
Greek,  bring  out  the  precise  meaning  hidden  in  a 
Scripture  word  or  phrase.  But  was  not  this  what 
Christ  promised  to  his  disciples }  ^  Did  not  his 
apostles  witness  that  it  was  in  them  ?  The  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  must  be  spiritually  discerned. 
"  For  the  giving  of  Scripture,  and  the  receiving  of 
Scripture,  we  need  the  living  action  of  the  living 
Spirit  of  God."  It  is  by  the  anointing  from  the 
Holy  One  that  we  know  all  things.  Coleridge  said 
truly,  "  The  Bible  without  the  Spirit  is  a  sundial 
by  moonlight."  Richard  Baxter  studied  his  text 
on  his  knees,  with  his  finger  on  the  passage  from 
which  he  proposed  to  preach,  and  on  his  lips  the 
prayer,  ''  Lord,  reveal  even  this  to  me  !  show  me 
thy  meaning !" 

(2)  Scarcely  less  necessary  to  correct  and  profit- 
able exegesis  are  certain  intellectual  qualities. 

A.  First  of  these  must  be  mentioned  the  homilet- 
ical  instinct,  by  means  of  which  a  preacher  seizes 
almost  at  once  on  the  material  best  adapted  to  his 
purpose,  and  throws  it  into  the  form  fittest  for  use  in 
the  sermon.     Distinct  from  other  serviceable  qual- 

*  F.  D.  Maurice,  "Faith  and  Action,"  p.  215. 
■''Matt.  II  :  25  ;   I  Cor.  2  :  14;   I  John  2  :  20. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      21 5 

ities  in  the  preacher,  this  seems  to  be  indispensable 
if  the  sermon  is  to  be  a  sermon  indeed.  A  man 
may  be  a  theologian,  he  may  have  careful  training 
in  philosophy,  he  may  even  possess  a  distinct  liter- 
ary quality  of  his  own,  and  yet  lacking  the  homi- 
letical  instinct  he  may  fail  in  the  pulpit.  ''  Take 
Alford's  or  Meyer's  '  Notes  on  the  New  Testa- 
ment.' Read  them  aloud.  No  congregation  in 
this  world,  except  one  composed  of  theological 
students,  would  listen  to  them  for  five  minutes."^ 

B.  Further,  to  excel  in  exegesis  the  preacher 
should  have  scholarly  tastes  and  habits.  These  will 
show  themselves  in  two  ways. 

(a)  First,  in  accurate  treatment  of  the  text.  Study 
carefully  its  construction,  attend  to  the  weight  and 
force  of  particles.  Compare  passages  in  which  the 
same  words  or  phrases  occur  elsewhere  than  in 
your  text.  Often  a  whole  sermon  will  lie  in  a 
word.  A  living  preacher  illustrated  this  when  he 
took  for  his  theme,  "  Comfort  in  the  tenses  of  a 
verb,"  and  for  his  text,  ''  Who  delivered  us  fromi 
so  great  a  death,  and  doth  deliver ;  in  whom  we 
trust  that  he  will  yet  deliver."^  How  suggestive 
for  the  purposes  of  a  sermon  is  a  study  of  Paul's 
use  of  antithesis  in  another  passage  (i  Cor.  i  : 
22-24).  Follow  the  two  parallel  lines  in  this  pas- 
sage, the  one  indicated  by  the  words,  "a  sign," 
''a  stumbling-block,"  "the  power  of  God";  the 
other  by  the  words,  **  wisdom,"  "foolishness,"  "the 
wisdom  of  God,"  and  you  have  the  natural  divisions 

^  Hugh  Stowell  Brown.  ^  2  Cor.  i  :  lo. 


2l6  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

for  a  sermon  on  Christ  crucified,  in  which  the 
human  side  of  the  cross  may  be  contrasted  with 
the  divine. 

(b)  The  scholarly  habit  will  also  show  itself  in 
vivid  and  vigorous  treatment  of  the  theme.  Take 
time  for  questions  of  interest  which  are  suggested 
by  your  subject.  Bring  into  the  discussion  the 
literature  of  the  text,  its  history,  its  critical  treat- 
ment, and  the  science,  archaeology,  and  natural 
history  connected  with  it. 

C.  A  third  quality  of  great  importance  is  logical 
acuteness.  This  is  essential  to  skill  in  analysis  and 
synthesis.  It  is  the  faculty  which  perceives  and 
seizes  upon  distinctions,  resemblances,  and  con- 
nections in  thought.  Tholuck  admired  especially 
this  power  in  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  when  a 
Transatlantic  visitor  inquired  of  him  what  he  re- 
garded as  the  characteristic  of  the  American  mind, 
he  replied  ^^ ScJiarfsicJit''  (sharpsightedness),  ''the 
power  of  distinction  and  the  power  of  analysis."^ 

D.  To  the  qualities  already  enumerated  another 
must  be  added,  namely,  sound  judgment.  You 
need  to  know  just  how  far  to  carry  your  analysis, 
and  just  where  to  stop.  Let  me  counsel  the  young 
preacher  enamored  of  his  exegetical  skill  to  see 
to  it  that  he  does  not  let  his  exegesis  concern  itself 
only  with  words.     Be  not  one  of  those 

Learned  philologers  who  chase 

A  panting  syllable  through  time  and  space. 


1  "Life  of  Dr.  Ed.  Kirk,"  p.  203. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      21/ 

Avoid  mere  grammatical  hair-splitting,  and  striving 
about  words  to  no  profit.  "  Learning  rightly  em- 
ployed seasons  like  salt ;  but  if  all  be  salt,  what 
remains  to  season  ?  "  Canon  Liddon  significantly 
says,  "  The  world  was  saved  by  the  substance  of 
the  message  from  heaven  and  not  by  the  words 
that  conveyed  it "  ;  and  Matthew  Arnold  put  a  note 
of  warning  into  an  epigram  when  he  criticized  the 
revisers  of  the  Authorized  version  of  the  New 
Testament  as  seeming  to  think  that  "man  was 
made  for  the  aorist,  and  not  the  aorist  for  man." 
The  undue  emphasis  on  words  which  leads  one 
preacher  to  declare  that  he  who  understands 
grammar  so  as  to  truly  interpret  the  language  of 
God  is  to  his  mind  the  theologian  of  the  day,^  is 
the  better  for  being  modified  by  another  who  re- 
minds us  that  *'  we  are  often  impoverished  in  a 
religious  sense  by  our  grammatical  cleverness. 
God  is  not  a  God  of  etymology  and  syntax,  else 
salvation  would  be  of  grammar,  not  of  grace."  ^ 
And  in  your  exegesis  recognize  the  full  scope  of 
Scripture.  In  a  recent  trial  a  lawyer  of  great  em- 
inence, who  had  the  conduct  of  one  side,  when  he 
came  to  reply  surprised  his  junior  by  the  resolution 
not  to  encumber  the  presentation  of  the  case  in  its 
largest  sense  by  introducing  all  its  trumpery  de- 
tails. **  I  am  going,"  said  iie,  "  to  deal  with  it  in 
a  much  larger  sense."  The  result  showed  that  he 
was  right.  Minute  criticism  is  apt  to  err.  Losing 
sight  of  this  ''larger  sense,"  it  narrows  and  belit- 

^  C.  H.  Spurgeon.  2  j^j-   j    Parker. 


2l8  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

ties  the  theology  of  the  pulpit  and  gives  occasion 
to  Emerson  to  declare  that  "analysis  has  run  to 
seed  in  unbelief."  So  Shakespeare  reminds  us  in 
"  Timon  of  Athens,"  that 

There  is  boundless  theft  in  limited  profession. 

Selden  packs  the  same  thought  into  his  famous 
saying,  "  No  man  is  the  wiser  for  his  learning," 
and  Milton  expands  it  in  his  noble  prose : 

There  is  scarce  one  saying  in  the  gospel  but  must  be 
read  with  limitations  and  distinctions  to  be  rightly  under- 
stood ;  for  Christ  gives  no  full  comments  or  continued  dis- 
courses, but  speaks  oft  in  monosyllables,  like  a  master 
scattering  the  heavenly  grain  of  his  doctrine  like  pearls  here 
and  there,  which  requires  a  skillful  and  laborious  gatherer, 
who  must  compare  the  words  he  finds  with  other  precepts, 
with  the  end  of  every  ordinance,  and  with  the  general  anal- 
ogy of  evangelical  doctrine  ;  otherwise,  many  particular  say- 
ings would  be  but  strange,  repugnant  riddles. 

In  a  word,  keep  your  exegesis  subservient  to  your 
aim.  Interpret  Scripture.  Do  not  spend  a  mo- 
ment of  your  half-hour  over  details  which  only 
divert  the  mind  from  the  main  purpose  of  your 
discourse.  His  successor  in  London  with  justice 
extols  Edward  Irving,  because  in  his  preaching 
"  by  bringing  out  the  fullness  of  the  all-embracing 
Bible,  and  by  carrying  hearers  who  had  hitherto 
rested  in  texts  right  into  the  truths  which  these 
texts  contained,  he  relieved  evangelism  from  the 
reproach  of  intellectual  poverty." 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      219 

III.  The  advantages  of  exegesis  in  the  sermon. 

1.  Obviously  it  tends  to  hold  the  preacher 
down  to  his  office  as  an  interpreter  of  Scripture. 
In  every  sermon  the  two  essential  elements  are 
explanation  and  application.  Without  explanation 
the  argumentative  part  of  a  sermon  is  apt  to  be 
weak  in  its  premises,  and  therefore  futile  in  its 
conclusions ;  while  the  hortatory  part  is  almost 
sure  to  lack  in  force,  and  the  preacher  so  fights  as 
one  that  beateth  the  air. 

2.  Obviously  also,  sound  exegesis  is  in  keeping 
with  the  philosophical  method  of  research,  that 
is,  to  seek  for  truth  and  to  explain  it ;  and  all  in- 
quiry, whether  in  the  realm  of  mind  or  of  matter, 
should  formulate  itself  in  an  explanation,  or  exe- 
gesis. No  attack  upon  the  dogmatism  of  science 
can  carry  any  weight  so  long  as  it  is  urged  by  a 
preacher  who  is  himself  falling  into  the  pulpit 
snare  of  mistaking  assertion  for  proof.  One  of 
the  most  effective  weapons  in  the  hands  of  the 
Reformers  is  wielded  by  Melanchthon  when  he 
avers,  **  A  single  certain  and  simple  sense  is  every- 
where to  be  sought  in  connection  with  the  rules  of 
grammar,  dialectics,  and  rhetoric."  To  a  com- 
pany of  students  the  Duke  of  Argyle  says  :  ''  Analy- 
sis is  the  one  all-powerful  instrument  of  research 
in  the  physical  sciences."  You  will  find  it  not  less 
powerful  in  casting  light  on  the  operations  of  the 
mind  itself.  "  If  anything  I  have  ever  written  or 
spoken  has  been  of  the  least  use  to  any  one  in 
dealing  with   the  great  problems  of    life,   it  has 


220  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

been  but  an  instinct  which  I  have  had  from  my 
earliest  years  to  examine  and  analyze  the  wording- 
of  every  proposition  which  is  presented  for  our  ac- 
ceptance." 

3.  A  third  advantage  in  exegesis  wisely  used 
in  the  sermon  is  that  it  carries  with  it  a  sense  of 
authority.  This  authority  is  seen  in  its  influence 
alike  on  the  preacher  himself,  on  his  sermon,  and 
on  his  congregation. 

(i)  For  the  preacher  it  may  be  enough  to  remind 
him  of  the  conviction  which  two  of  the  greatest 
masters  of  his  craft  have  left  us.  Luther  says  : 
"  In  all  sciences  the  ablest  professors  are  they 
who  have  thoroughly  mastered  the  text ;  Bonus 
TexttiarmSy  bonus  TheolognSy'  the  best  theologian 
is  he  who  is  most  versed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.^ 
Jonathan  Edwards  in  one  powerful  sentence  put  a 
truth  destructive  of  all  loose  pulpit  methods  when 
he  declared,  ''  He  that  doth  not  understand,  can 
receive  no  faith  nor  any  other  grace."  ^ 

How  great  is  the  influence  of  this  element  of 
exegesis  in  the  sermon  what  has  already  been  said 
should  sufficiently  show.  The  integrity  of  the 
sermon  will  be  affected  by  it.  Convinced  that  it 
is  his  duty  to  interpret  the  word  of  God  honestly, 
and  that  his  sermon  will  be  effective  in  proportion 
as  he  does  so,  the  preacher  will  keep  himself  to 
simple  lines.     He  will  not  accommodate  his  text 

1  Luther,  "Table  Talk." 

'  Edwards,  sermon  on  "The  Importance  of  the  Knowledge  01 
Divine  Truth." 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      221 

to  the  subject  on  which  he  wishes  to  speak ;  he 
will  avoid  motto  or  fragmentary  texts;  he  will 
keep  clear  of  allegorizing ;  and  he  will  found  his 
sermon  on  the  rock  of  a  true  and  faithful  exposi- 
tion of  the  words  and  thoughts  of  his  text. 

And  it  is  safe  to  add  that  the  freshness  of  our 
sermons  largely  depends  on  our  use  of  sound  exe- 
gesis— this  because  exegesis  gives  us  thought, 
which  was  what  Daniel  Webster  intended  when  he 
said,  "  I  get  my  ideas  by  attention  to  definitions." 
To  two  things  Dr.  Maclaren  traces  any  influence 
he  has  been  able  to  exert  in  the  direction  of  stimu- 
lating and  influencing  young  ministers :  first  to 
hard  work  at  his  Hebrew  Bible  and  Greek  Testa- 
ment ;  and,  secondly,  to  the  fact  that  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ministry  he  has  endeavored  to  make 
his  preaching  expository  and  explanatory  of  the 
word  of  God  as  he  understood  it.  What  he  adds 
it  will  be  well  for  all  preachers  to  remember  : 

Why  so  many  people  are  tired  of  preaching  is  because 
some  preachers  merely  take  a  text  on  which  to  hang  pretty 
things  without  any  regard  to  its  true  meaning.  If  God 
thought  it  worth  while  to  give  us  a  book,  surely  we  should 
give  its  truths  the  meaning  he  designed. 

(2)  This  mature  conviction  of  one  who  has  for 
over  fifty  years  stood  in  the  forefront  among  the 
preachers  of  our  Protestant  Christendom  is  sig- 
nificant for  what  it  says  as  to  the  congregation  also. 
A  careful  and  intelligent  exegesis  in  the  sermon 
trains  hearers  to  look  not  for  human  opinions  but 


222       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

for  the  word  of  the  Lord.  This  it  is  which  meets 
unbelief  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  arouses  the 
dull  conscience  and  enlightens  the  darkened  mind, 
forces  indecision  to  take  action,  confirms  faith  in 
its  confidence,  and  throughout  the  congregation 
quickens  the  spirit  of  honest  inquiry.  Prof.  A.  B. 
Bruce  does  well  to  remind  preachers  that  a  minis- 
ter has  to  educate  the  minds  of  his  people  as  well 
as  their  hearts.  It  is  due  alike  to  its  great  history, 
to  its  vast  opportunity,  and  to  its  weighty  obliga- 
tion, to  insist  that  the  pulpit  must  be  redeemed 
from  the  contempt  into  which  pious  platitudes 
and  commonplaces,  and  the  rhetoric  which,  like 
Ephraim,  feedeth  on  wind,  have  done  their  utmost 
to  bring  it. 

The  failure  of  more  than  one  great  spiritual 
movement  to  arrest  and  retain  the  intellectual 
forces  of  the  age  is  to  be  traced  in  part  to  the 
lack  of  trustworthy  scholarship  and  conscientious 
exegetical  skill  on  the  part  of  those  who  directed 
it.  On  the  other  hand,  who  shall  estimate  the 
value  to  the  Protestant  Reformation  of  the  revival 
of  sound  biblical  exegesis  .-*  Take  that  away  from 
the  sermons  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  from  the  expo- 
sitions of  Colet,  from  the  treatises  of  Melanchthon 
and  Erasmus,  and  humanly  speaking,  that  might- 
iest religious  movement  in  church  history  lies  like 
Samson  shorn  of  his  strength. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


I.  The  Importance  of  Argument  in  Preaching. 

1.  This  may  be  seen  from  Scripture. 

2.  History  bears  witness  to  it. 

3.  Our  experience  testifies  to  it. 

II.  The    Place   which    Argument    should  Hold  in   the 

Sermon. 

1.  An  element  of  argument  needful  in  every  sermon  :  (i)  May 

be  confined  to  statement ;  (2 )  Should  be  seen  in  the  logical 
consistency  of  the  discourse;  (3)  And  in  the  line  of 
thought  pursued. 

2.  Some    sermons    may   be    distinctively   argumentative  :    ( I ) 

Sermons   dealing   vi^ith   special   points  in  theology ;    ( 2 ) 
Sermons  preached  at  critical  times. 
Counsels,     i.  Remember  what  is  the  preacher's  special  duty. 

2.  Keep  in  view  the  true  end  of  preaching. 

3.  Leave  the  right  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 

hearer. 

4.  Test  your  preaching  by  examining  its  effects. 

III.  Character  of  the  Argument  in  the  Sermon. 

1.  The  Argument  from  Testimony. 

2.  The  Argument  from  Analogy. 

3.  The  Argument  from  Cause  to  Effect. 

4.  The  Argument  from  Effect  to  Cause. 

5.  The  Argument  from  Cumulative  Evidence. 


XV 

rhetorical  elements  in  the  sermon 
(continued) 

We  have  said  that  in  every  sermon  there  should 
be  statement,  argument,  and  illustration.  The 
prominence  which  has  been  given  to 
statement  in  our  estimate  of  these 
three  will  be  understood  if  we  reflect  that  without 
it  argument  is  out  of  the  question,  and  illustration 
futile  and  unprofitable.  Supposing  that  the  founda- 
tions of  the  sermon  have  been  laid  in  a  painstaking 
exegesis  of  the  text  or  theme,  we  are  prepared  to 
consider,  in  the  next  place,  the  part  played  by  ar 
gument. 

I.  Consider  the  importance  of  argument  in 
preaching. 

I.  This  may  be  seen  from  Scripture.  Pictorial 
though  it  was,  a  strain  of  reasoning  ran  through 
the  teaching  of  Jesus.^  When  it  was  first  preached 
by  the  apostles  the  gospel  was  preached  argumen. 
tatively.^  Our  faith  in  the  great  central  truths  of 
salvation  rests  on  a  basis  of  argument.  This  is 
emphatically  true  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord, 
to  which  in  their  preaching  the  apostles  gave  such 


^  Luke  2  :  46  ;    Mark  II  :  29  ;    MaU.  22  :  41. 
'  Acts  9  :  20-22  ;    Acts  17  :  2,  3,  17  ;    Acts  18  :  4. 
P  225 


226  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

prominence.  Faith  in  the  actual  resurrection  of 
Jesus  rests  on  the  argument  from  testimony;^  and 
faith  in  the  resurrection  of  the  believer  rests  on 
the  argument  from  analogy.^ 

2.  History  bears  witness  to  the  same  effect. 
Indifference,  skepticism,  or  open  hostility  to  the 
Christian  religion  have,  from  the  earliest  times 
until  now,  been  encountered  by  a  long  and  noble 
succession  of  apologists.  Butler's  "  Fifteen  ser- 
mons" were  "designed  to  make  men  think  logi- 
cally on  religious  matters."  As  president  of  Yale 
College,  Doctor  Dwight  turned  the  tide  of  fashion- 
able infidelity  by  his  sermons  to  the  students.  C. 
G.  Finney  met  audiences  of  lawyers  with  an  acumen 
not  surpassed  by  any  of  his  hearers,  and  reasoned 
conclusively  in  favor  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
Christianity.  Chief  Justice  Chase,  at  a  certain 
period  of  his  life,  studied  the  Christian  religion  as 
a  matter  capable  of  demonstration  or  confutation, 
treating  it  precisely  as  he  would  a  question  of  law, 
"and  the  result  was  a  firm  conviction  that  it  is 
divine  in  its  origin,  authority,  and  power." 

3.  Our  own  experience  in  this  matter  may  be 
appealed  to.  Paley  says,  "  He  only  discovers  who 
proves."  Before  he  has  spent  many  years  in  his 
vocation,  the  Christian  minister  should  have  fur- 
nished himself  with  a  working  theology  adequate 
to  almost  every  kind  of  doubt.     His  personal  ex- 

1  I  Cor.  15  :  1-8. 

»  I  Cor.  15  :  35-45  ;   C.  R.  Morrison,  "Proofs  of  the  Resur- 
rection from  a  Lawyer's  Standpoint." 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      22/ 

perience  may  remind  him  that  it  was  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  religion  of  Jesus  that  convinced 
him.  His  pastoral  visitations  will  very  likely  bring 
home  to  him  the  fact  that  those  sermons  make  the 
most  lasting  impression  in  which  there  is  an  ele- 
ment of  clear  and  simple  argument.  His  observa- 
tion of  his  own  pulpit  work,  and  of  that  of  his 
neighbors,  will  witness  that  a  preacher  who  pos- 
sesses honest  skill  in  argument  is  sure  to  com- 
mand the  attention  and  respect  of  the  most  in- 
telligent hearers.  The  pulpit  is  responsible  for  a 
large  measure  of  the  polite  indifference  with  which 
so  very  many  sermons  are  treated  by  men  who 
assume  no  such  attitude  in  regard  to  serious  intel- 
lectual effort.  We  have  still  need  to  lay  to  heart 
John  Foster's  complaint  :  "  There  is  a  great  de- 
ficiency of  what  may  be  called  conclusive  writing 
and  speaking.  How  seldom  we  feel  at  the  end  of 
the  passage  or  discourse  that  something  is  settled 
and  done."  ^ 

H.  Pass  now  to  the  place  which  argument  should 
hold  in  the  sermon. 

I.  In  every  sermon  there  should  be  an  element 
of  argument. 

(i)  Even  if  the  preacher  confine  himself  to 
statement  only  his  statement  may  have  all  the 
force  and  effect  of  elaborate  reasoning.  The 
power  of  clear  statement  is  the  great   power  in 

*  John  Foster,  "Life  and  Letters,"  p.  117.  See  also  Foster's 
essay  "On  the  Aversion  of  Men  of  Taste  to  Evangelical  Re- 
ligion." 


228  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

the  pulpit  as  at  the  bar.  "  Half  the  controver- 
sies in  the  world,  could  they  be  brought  to  a  plain 
issue,  would  be  brought  to  a  prompt  termination."  ^ 
Others  besides  his  own  countrymen  might  have 
been  included  in  the  charge  brought  against  them 
by  Professor  Huxley  when  he  said,  "Our  one  great 
want  is  lucidity."  It  will  be  well  for  the  preacher 
to  estimate  at  something  near  its  real  value  the 
importance  of  facts  as  distinguished  from  theories. 
Let  him  first  make  sure  of  them,  mindful  of  John- 
son's assertion,  "  The  hardest  thing  in  the  world, 
sir,  is  to  get  possession  of  a  fact."  With  the  facts 
of  Christianity  it  is  that  he  is  chiefly  concerned, 
and  about  them  gather  the  opinions  of  the  age, 
the  drifts  of  current  and  transient  thought,  and 
t*he  shifting  emphasis  which  almost  every  year 
places  upon  this  or  that  phase  of  religion,  very 
much  as  about  the  mountain  peaks  gather  the 
clouds  and  mists  and  sunshine  and  shadow  of  the 
hour.  He  must  hold  fast  in  his  preaching  by  what 
Goethe  calls  "this  central  and  substantial  kernel 
of  the  matter,  which  remains  unaffected  by  any 
change  of  condition  that  time  can  produce,  just  as 
a  well-conditioned  soul  is  not  disturbed  by  any 
accident  that  may  befall  the  body  in  which  it  lies 
encased." 

(2)  This  element  of  argument  should  be  found 
also  in  the  logical  consistency  of  the  sermon. 
Here  it  is  that  the  value  of  a  clear  and  careful 
plan  is  so  apparent.     The  plan  should  be  worked 

*  J.  H.  Newman. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      229 

over  and  over  again  until  it  is  perfectly  satisfactory. 
To  stop  short  of  this  is  to  tempt  failure.  A  de- 
fective plan  will  betray  its  presence  by  and  by  in 
a  defective  sermon.  Robert  Murray  McCheync 
says  that  as  a  student  he  despised  the  rules  for 
sermon-making  which  he  received  from  his  pro- 
fessor, but  when  engaged  in  the  active  work  of  the 
ministry  he  changed  his  mind.  "  Now  I  feel  I 
must  use  them,  for  nothing  is  more  needful  for 
making  a  sermon  memorable  and  impressive  than 
a  logical  arrangement."  ^ 

(3)  But  we  go  further  when  we  urge  that  this 
element  of  argument  should  be  manifest  in  the 
line  of  thought  which  the  preacher  pursues.  In 
every  sermon  something  should  call  for  proof,  aad 
receive  it.  Resolve,  by  all  means,  to  do  your  ut- 
most to  rescue  the  pulpit  from  the  disdain  poured 
upon  it,  not  without  reason,  in  consequence  of 
mere  dogmatic  assertion,  or  vapid  exhortations,  or 
featureless  commonplace.  John  Ruskin  writes  to 
a  college  friend,  as  one  who  is  himself  friendly  to 
preaching : 

Yet  it  requires  the  preaching  of  a  considerable  deal  of 
patience  to  make  one  sit  out  some  sermons  comfortably.  I 
go,  I  hope,  to  receive  real  benefit  of  some  kind  or  another  ; 
but  then  how  am  I  to  be  benefited  ?  Not  by  the  bare  re- 
hearsal of  duties  which  I  know  as  well  as  my  alphabet  ; 
not  by  the  repetition  of  motives  which  are  constantly  be- 
fore me,  and  which  I  never  act  upon  ;  not  by  the  enuncia- 
tion of  truths  which  I  perpetually  hear,  and  never  believe  ; 

*  R.  M.  McCheyne,  "  Memoir,"  p.  29. 


230  THE    MAKING    OF    THE   SERMON 

but  by  giving  explanation  to  the  duties,  force  to  the  mo- 
tives, proof  to  the  facts. 

2.  Some  sermons  may  be  distinctively  argumen- 
tative. 

(i)  Among  these  we  specify  sermons  which 
.deal  with  disputed  points  in  theology.^  Almost 
all  the  subjects  of  which  we  treat  in  our  sermons 
will  now  and  then  demand  to  be  considered  in 
this  way.  To  deliver  a  series  of  consecutive  dis- 
courses on  '*  Old  Testament  difficulties  "  may  not 
be  a  wise  thing  to  do ;  but  to  carry  such  a  series 
in  one's  mind  and  without  distinct  announcement 
to  give  in  their  order  the  sermons  in  such  a  course 
occasionally,  is  certainly  worthy  of  commendation. 
Such  subjects  as  prayer,  sin,  the  atonement,  jus- 
tification by  faith,  require  to  be  treated  in  frank 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  there  are  minds  in  our 
congregations  which  hold  them  in  doubt.  And 
yet  even  in  dealing  with  disputed  points  of  the- 
ology in  the  pulpit,  it  is  often  well  to  treat  them 
inferentially.  They  are  not  to  be  considered  as 
all  of  them  capable  of  proof.  Professor  Jowett 
"  deprecated  any  fixed  statement  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  not  because  he  would  deny  it,  but 
because  he  would  consider  human  thought  con- 
ceiving it  necessarily  inadequate  and  every  expres- 
sion equally  illusive."  The  preacher  may  hesitate 
to  use  in  his  pulpit  discourse  the  term  *' Trinity," 
because  it  does  not  occur  in  the  New  Testament 

^  E.  g.,  Canon  Liddon,  "Some  Elements  of  Religion."     Arch- 
bishop Magee,  "Norwich  Cathedral  Discouises." 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      23  I 

and  because  it  has  been  associated  in  church  his- 
tory with  fierce  and  often  shameful  wrangling. 
And  yet  he  will  preach  the  doctrine  by  inference, 
as  it  is  set  forth,  for  example,  by  the  Apostle 
Peter,^  and  he  will  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  Horace 
Bushnell's  confession :  "  When  the  preacher  touches 
the  Trinity  and  when  logic  shatters  it  all  to 
pieces,  I  am  at  the  four  winds.  But  I  am  glad  I 
have  a  heart  as  well  as  a  head.  My  heart  wants 
the  Father ;  my  heart  wants  the  Son  ;  my  heart 
wants  the  Holy  Ghost;  my  heart  says  the  Bible 
has  a  Trinity  for  me,  and  I  mean  to  hold  by  my 
heart.  "2 

(2)  Again,  sermons  preached  at  critical  times 
will  often  need  to  be  cast  in  a  mold  of  argument. 
By  the  title  of  his  volume  of  Yale  Lectures  on 
**The  Gospel  for  an  Age  of  Doubt,"  Dr.  Van 
Dyke  has  assumed  that  we  live  in  a  time  which  is 
"full  of  the  sorrowful  and  confused  confessions  of 
doubt."  There  is  hope  in  the  indisputable  fact 
that  this  doubt  is  not  mocking  or  scornful  in  its 
spirit,  but  rather  yearns  for  a  renewal  of  faith,  and 
with  the  poet  finds  it 

little  joy, 
To  know  I  am  farther  off  from  heaven 
Than  when  I  was  a  boy. 

Beyond  any  question  it  is  necessary  that  the 
preacher  should  understand  "the  serious  and  pa- 
thetic temper  of  the  age";   and  yet  he  will  do 

1  I  Peter  i  :  i,  2.         2  Horace  Bushnell's  "  Life,"  p.  56. 


232  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

well  to  classify  doubt  in  his  treatment  of  it  in  the 
pulpit.  It  is  not  all  of  the  kind  which  finds  ex- 
pression in  Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam"  or 
''Amiel's  Journal."  A  specialist  in  skepticism^ 
divides  unbelievers  into  ten  classes  according  as 
their  attitude  toward  religion  is  identified  with  in- 
difference, naturalism,  doubt,  antipathy,  atheism, 
pantheism,  deism,  agnosticism,  positivism,  or  skep- 
ticism. The  preacher  must  distinguish  the  doubt 
which  is  generated  by  a  corrupt  heart  and  where 
the  wish  is  father  to  the  thought,  from  that  which 
comes  from  the  disappointments  and  sorrows  of  a 
hard  life,  or  from  the  intellectual  perplexities  of 
men  who  are  like  Jacobi,  "  Christians  with  the 
heart,  but  Pagans  with  the  head." 
We  offer  four  counsels  at  this  point. 

(a)  Remember  what  is  the  preacher's  special 
duty.  It  is  to  preach  the  word,  deliver  God's 
message  to  man.  **  The  establishment  of  positive 
truth  instead  of  the  negative  destruction  of  error, 
was  the  principle  on  which  the  whole  of  F.  W. 
Robertson's  controversial  teaching  was  founded." 

(b)  Always  keep  in  view  the  true  end  of  preach- 
ing. This  is  persuasion.  Argument  is  only  a 
means  to  this  end.  It  is  possible  to  be  a  convin- 
cing and  yet  not  a  persuasive  preacher,  and,  worse 
yet,  it  is  possible  to  lay  ourselves  open  to  the 
charge  brought  against  Carlyle  that  ''  he  stirred 
everything  but  settled  nothing."  ''After  all,"  as 
Cardinal  Newman  says,  "  man  is  not  a  reasoning 

^  Rev.  A.  J.  Harrison. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      233 

animal ;  he  is  a  seeing,  feeling,  contemplating,  act- 
ing animal." 

(c)  Be  very  careful  to  leave  the  right  impression 
on  the  minds  of  your  hearers.  The  permanent  im- 
pression should  be  chiefly  moral  and  spiritual, 
rather  than  intellectual.  A  sermon  which  is  com- 
pletely covered  by  the  assertion  that  it  is  **  an  in- 
tellectual treat"  is,  it  has  been  said,  "a  very  bad 
sermon."  Professor  Drummond  on  one  occasion 
warned  preachers  against  "  killing  the  old  doctrine 
and  ostentatiously  calling  on  their  congregations  to 
attend  the  funeral."  This  is  not  what  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  has  to  do.  The  funeral  baked  meats 
furnished  at  such  occasions  will  not  satisfy  the 
spiritual  cravings  of  our  hearers.  Still  from 
their  pews  the  hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not 
fed.^ 

{d)  Learn  to  test  your  preaching  by  examining 
its  effects.  To  be  admired,  wondered  at,  followed, 
on  account  of  our  powers  of  argument,  or  indeed 
of  any  mere  intellectual  gift,  is  not  the  preacher's 
true  aim.  Be  satisfied  with  no  results  which 
would  not  have  satisfied  Jesus  himself  when  he  was 
on  earth.  Such  transient  popularity  called  only 
for  tears  from  him,  and  it  was  to  the  people  of  the 
one  little  city  which  never  failed  to  welcome  him 
that  he  addressed  his  weightiest  woes,  "because 
they  believed  not."  An  appreciative  satisfaction 
is  not  what  we  should  look  for  at  the  hands  of 
those  who  are  not  yet  reconciled  to  God,  or  who, 

1  R.  Gee,  "Our  Preachers,"  p.  142. 


234  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

even  if  reconciled,  are  still  far  short  of  perfection. 
"I  should  suspect  his  preaching  had  no  salt  in  it," 
Fuller  quaintly  says,  ''if  no  galled  horse  did 
wince." 

III.  Something  needs  to  be  said  now  as  to  the 
character  of  the  argument  in  the  sermon. 

In  dealing  with  this  part  of  our  subject  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  those  kinds  of  argument 
which  will  be  of  special  service  to  the  preacher. 
In  its  wider  aspects  argument  is  treated  in  the  va- 
rious handbooks  of  logic,  and  to  them  the  preacher 
may  with  profit  occasionally  turn.^ 

1.  The  Argument  from  Testimony.^  Here,  since 
the  appeal  is  to  history,  a  close  adherence  to  incon- 
trovertible facts  is  of  the  first  importance.  Such 
a  subject  as  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  ^  offers  a  fine 
field  for  this  kind  of  argument,  and  it  seems  as 
though  at  the  present  time  especially  the  preacher 
needs  to  make  use  of  the  testimony  of  the  apos- 
tles and  eye-witnesses  to  a  great  fact  in  history 
which  cannot  be  relegated  to  the  region  of  myth 
without  impugning  the  whole  moral  character  of 
the  New  Testament  writers. 

2.  The  Argument  from  Analogy.'*  No  more 
effective  method  of  arguing  than  this  can  be  used 
by  the  preacher,  because  the  ordinary  reader  is 
familiar  with  the  world  from  which  the  analogy  is 

1  Broadus,  "The  Preparation  and  Delivery  of  Sermons, "  Chap. 
VI. 

'^John  9.         'Westcott,  "The  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection." 
*  Mark  4:3-9;  James  5  :  7.  S. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE  SERMON   235 

taken  ;  and  so  analogy  is  illustration  as  well  as 
argument.  Yet  it  needs  to  be  remembered  that 
this  kind  of  argument  must  not  be  pushed  too  far. 
Analogy  implies  only  a  partial  degree  of  likeness. 
Positive  conclusions  cannot  be  drawn  from  analogy, 
but  only  probable  conclusions,  which  become  strong 
in  their  power  to  convince  in  proportion  as  the 
analogy  is  close. ^ 

3.  The  Argument  from  Cause  and  Effect.^  In 
dealing  with  the  natural  attributes  of  the  Deity 
this  species  of  argument  is  valuable.  His  attri- 
butes being  assumed  as  granted,  we  argue  from 
them  to  their  manifestations  here,  among  men. 
*'  God  is  love,"  what  then  may  we  expect  as  to  his 
purposes,  his  actions,  his  ultimate  resolve  for  us  ? 
The  facts  which  are  commonly  granted  must  form 
the  premises  for  the  argument,  and  the  preacher's 
skill  is  shown  by  the  use  which  he  makes  of  points 
that  are  generally  conceded. 

4.  The  Argument  from  the  Effect  to  the  Cause.^ 
This  line  of  reasoning  is  especially  valuable  be- 
cause all  men  can  perceive  and  decide — in  some 
measure  at  least — upon  effects  with  which  they 
are  familiar.  Paley's  use  of  this  form  of  argument 
in  his  "  Natural  Theology  "  was  more  generally 
admired  fifty  years  ago  than  it  is  now ;  but  the 
Bible  is  itself  too  full  of  appeals  to  the  wisdom. 


^  Pritchard,  "Analysis  of  Nature  and  Grace." 
'Hugh    Macmillan,    D.   D.,    "Bible   Teachings    in    Nature." 
Rom.  5:1;  Rom.  8  :  17. 
3  Acts  4  :  13. 


236       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

power,  and  benevolence  of  God  based  on  a  study 
of  his  work  ^  for  the  weapon  which  Paley  wielded 
with  such  good  effect  to  be  laid  aside  as  of  no 
further  use. 

5.  The  Argument  from  Cumulative  Evidence.^ 
In  preaching  this  may  be  made  to  include  pre- 
sumptive evidence  and  the  evidence  from  induc- 
tion. *'The  degree  of  probability  is  as  the  fre- 
quency with  which  we  have  observed  the  same 
things.  It  becomes  presumption,  opinion,  convic- 
tion, and  forms  a  rule  of  hope  and  judgment.^  Be 
careful,  in  accumulating  and  marshaling  your 
proofs,  to  range  them  in  order,  so  that  they  shall 
rise  in  dignity  and  importance. 

The  argument  from  experience  which  enters  so 
largely  into  pastoral  sermons  finds  its  place  and  its 
efficacy  here.  Every  year  adds  to  its  weight.  All 
the  history  of  the  spiritual  life  since  his  time  aug- 
ments the  force  of  David's  resolve,  "  Because  thou 
hast  been  my  help,  therefore  in  the  shadow  of  thy 
wings  will  I  rejoice."  ^ 

1  Ps.  94  :  9.  2  Rom.  8  :  35-39. 

3  Angus,  Introduction  to  Butler's  "Analogy  of  Religion. '  * 

*Ps.  63  :7. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


IV.  How  TO  Acquire  Skill  in  Argument. 

1.  Recognize  the  value  of  a  logical  mind. 

2.  Study  your  own  mental  constitution. 

3.  Maintain  throughout  your  ministry  argumentative  studies. 

4.  In  your  composition,  aim  at  clear  expression. 

V.  Counsels  as  to  the  Employment  of  Argument  in  the 

Sermon. 

1.  Never  argue  for  argument's  sake:    (l)  Tempted  by  self- 

conceit;   (2)  Proving  what  is  not  disputed;   (3)  Arguing 
upon  matters  of  little  moment. 

2.  Do  not  readily  engage  in  controversy  at  the  beginning  of 

your  ministry. 

3.  Recognize  the  necessary  limitations  of  argument. 

4.  Respect  the  honorable  limits  of  pulpit  controversy. 

5.  Acquaint  yourself  with  the  subject  on  which  you  propose 

to  argue. 

6.  If  led  into  controversy,  preserve  the  character  of  a  Christian 

gentleman. 

7.  Avoid  unnecessary  controversy  with  brother  ministers,  and 

other  Christian  denominations. 

8.  Mingle  rhetoric  and  logic. 

9.  Let  Scripture  remain  your  final  appeal. 


XVI 

rhetorical  elements  in  the  sermon 
(continued) 

IV.  We  may  here  say  something  as  to  acquiring 
skill  in  argument.     How  best  can  that  be  done  ? 

1.  First  then,  let  the  preacher  rec- 

ognize  how  valuable  to  him  in  his  ^J^JZ"* 
ministry  is  a  logical  mind.  Lacking 
this,  preachers  have  brought  not  themselves  alone, 
but  also  their  vocation  into  contempt.  Their  minds 
are  what  Coleridge  termed  "non-sequacious,"  and 
their  hearers  soon  learn  to  distrust  their  conclu- 
sions. For  it  is  beyond  question  that  men  delight 
in  argument.  The  acutest  minds  in  the  country 
followed  the  long  trains  of  thought  with  which  C. 
G.  Finney  held  his  great  audiences  spell-bound.  An 
orator  of  no  mean  order  in  our  own  time  has  said, 
in  counseling  young  speakers :  "  Always  bear  in 
mind  that  an  audience  is  most  interested  when  you 
appeal  to  its  intelligence.  The  great  fault  of  pub- 
lic speakers  nowadays  is  an  attempt  to  be  orator- 
ical. Rhetoric  and  imagery  are  simply  the  orna- 
ments of  oratory;  argument  is  its  substance."^ 

2.  In    order    to   make   your    sermons   logically 
effective,  it  will  be  well  that  you  study  your  own 

^  Mr.  Bourke  Cockran. 

239 


240       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

mental  constitution.  If  you  have  a  natural  apti- 
tude for  logical  processes  be  on  your  guard  against 
becoming  too  hard  and  unsympathetic  in  your 
method  of  address.  If,  as  many  speakers  do,  you 
possess  what  I  may  call  the  logical  instinct,  you 
will  certainly  have  one  faculty  in  common  with 
your  hearers.  They  may  be  fully  capable  of  com- 
ing to  sound  conclusion  although  at  the  same  time 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  processes  and 
reasoning.^  The  large  proportion  of  preachers, 
and  often  among  them  very  good  speakers  too, 
are  not  so  much  logical  as  rhetorical.  They  love 
to  speak,  and  the  temptation  to  cover  up  a  defec- 
tive line  of  argument  with  the  flowers  of  oratory, 
declaiming  when  they  ought  to  demonstrate,  is 
strong  within  them.  Selden's  advice  is  excellent : 
*'  First  in  your  sermon  use  your  logic  and  then  your 
rhetoric.  Rhetoric  without  logic  is  like  leaves  and 
blossoms  without  fruit."  ^  Remember,  then,  that 
assertion  is  not  proof.  '*  He  who  estabHshes  his 
argument  by  noise  and  command,"  says  Montaigne, 
"  shows  that  reason  is  weak,"  and  General  von 
Moltke,  in  his  ''Memoirs,"  remarks  that  "The 
pulpit  zealot  who  tries  to  persuade  where  he  cannot 
convince,  empties  the  church  with  his  sermons." 

3.  Throughout  your  ministry  it  will  be  well  that 
you  maintain  argumentative  studies.  Analyze,  for 
example,  the  arguments  of  the  New  Testament.^ 

*  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  "Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  69. 

*W.  Mathews,  "The  Great  Conversers,"  p.  23. 

^  E.  g.,  Romans. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      24 1 

Keep  well  informed  on  current  theological  contro- 
versies. Take  with  you  on  your  summer  vacation 
the  book  which  is  at  the  time  creating  discussion 
among  thinking  men,  and  spend  an  hour  or  two 
every  day  in  carefully  reading  and  summarizing  its 
contents.  Where  possible  attend  the  courts  of 
law,  and  study  the  various  ways  of  putting  a  point 
so  as  to  carry  the  jury.  Seek  to  profit  by  the 
friendship  of  able  lawyers.^  It  cost  Abraham  Lin- 
coln a  long  struggle  to  understand  what  constitutes 
proof;  and  in  order  to  master  the  principles  of 
reasoning  he  left  the  law  office  where  he  was  read- 
ing, and  through  a  cheerless  winter  spelled  out  his 
geometry  by  the  light  of  pitch-pine  knots  in  his 
father's  log  hut.  "  Then  in  the  spring,  when  I  had 
got  through  with  it,  I  said  to  myself  one  day,  *  Abe, 
do  you  know  now  when  a  thing  is  proved  } '  And 
I  answered  right  out  loud,  'Yes,  sir,  I  do.'  'Then 
you  may  go  back  to  the  law  shop.'  And  I  went." 
4.  Practise  composition  with  a  special  view  to 
cultivating  clearness  of  expression.  Think  an  ar- 
gument through,  and  then  put  it  in  precise  lan- 
guage. Vast  harm  is  done  in  the  pulpit  by  loose 
and  inaccurate  rhetoric.  Analyze  the  elements  of 
your  own  sermon.  Face  the  question.  What  do 
my  hearers  think  that  I  mean .?  and  be  not  like 
"jesting  Pilate  who  waited  not  for  the  answer." 
Bishop  Wilberforce  was  chagrined  when  a  poor 
countryman  came  to  him  in  the  churchyard,  after 
he  had  preached  a  sermon  demonstrating  as  he 

1  F.  W.  Robertson,  "Life  and  Letters,"  Letter  138. 

Q 


242  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

thought  most  conclusively  the  existence  of  God, 
with  the  assurance  that  ''  for  all  the  bishop  had 
said  yet  he  did  believe  after  all  that  there  was  a 
God."  The  cynical  usher  of  the  church  in  Ox- 
ford where  the  Bampton  Lectures,  designed  "to 
confirm  and  establish  the  Christian  Faith,"  are  de- 
livered, was  once  heard  to  say,  **  I  have  heard  the 
Bampton  Lectures  for  thirty  years ;  and,  thank 
God,  I  am  a  Christian  still."  ^ 

V.  We  conclude  by  offering  some  counsels  as 
to  the  employment  of  argument  in  the  sermon.^ 

I.  Our  first  counsel  is,  never  argue  for  argu- 
ment's sake. 

(i)  This  is  done  when  our  conceit  of  our  reason- 
ing powers  tempts  us  to  put  our  points  in  a  con- 
troversial way.  There  are  preachers  who  know 
how  to  raise  a  blister  but  are  utterly  ignorant  as 
how  to  heal  it.  To  a  friend  with  whom  he  found 
himself  disputing  without  any  promise  of  good 
coming  from  it,  Dr.  Johnson  said :  "  Come,  we  do 
not  want  to  get  the  better  of  one  another;  we 
want  to  increase  one  another's  ideas."  Pascal  an- 
ticipated Johnson  in  making  this  point  when  he 
wrote:  ''It  is  the  argument  that  delights  us  and 
not  the  victory.  We  love  to  watch  the  conflict  of 
opinion  ;  but  the  plain  truth  we  do  not  care  to 
look  at."  ^  How  happily  in  his  terse  way  Spur- 
geon  hits  the  mark  :  "  It  is  never  worth  while  to 

1  See  Duke  of  Argyll,  "What  is  Truth  ?  "  p.  16. 

»See  ''Life  of  A.  P.  Stanley,  d.  d.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  135. 

'Tulloch's  "Life  of  Pascal,"  p.  172. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      243 

make  rents  in  a  garment  for  the  sake  of  mending 
them,  nor  to  create  doubts  in  order  to  show  how 
cleverly  we  can  quiet  them." 

(2)  We  are  guilty  of  making  the  same  mistake 
when  we  labor  to  prove  what  is  not  disputed. 
Our  congregations  are  not  infidel  clubs.  The 
truths  of  the  Christian  religion  are  generally  ac- 
cepted by  them.  What  we  need  to  do  is  to  show 
how  indispensable  these  truths  are ;  not  so  much 
that  they  are  so,  as  that  they  must  be  so.  It  is  to 
be  questioned  whether  as  much  good  as  harm  has 
been  done  by  fencing  matches  between  believers 
and  atheists;  but  certainly  the  ordinary  church 
service  is  no  place  in  which  to  practise  our 
weapons.  It  is  eminently  unwise  to  introduce  into 
the  pulpit  controversial  books  or  to  give  promi- 
nence to  the  names  of  freethinkers.  Let  them 
do  their  own  advertising  at  their  own  expense. 
Your  duty  is  not  so  much  to  preach  down  error  as 
it  is  to  preach  up  truth. 

(3)  Nor  are  we  warranted  in  the  limited  time 
which  is  afforded  us,  in  arguing  upon  matters 
which  are  of  little  or  no  importance.  "  What  can 
be  more  hopeless,"  writes  Henry  Rogers,^  "  than 
the  attempt  to  engage  the  attention  and  interest 
the  feelings  of  a  common  audience  in  metaphysi- 
cal subtleties } "  "  Dry  and  dreary  to  us  who 
asked  for  the  celestial  manna,"  is  Longfellow's 
comment  in  his  "  Journal "  after  listening  to  "  a 
most  logical  discourse."     George  Eliot  drew  from 


1  (i 


Essays,"  Vol,  II,,  p.  226. 


244  THE   MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

the  life  when  she  depicted  the  Sunday  service  in 
Shepperton  Church: 

The  sermon  was  an  extremely  argumentative  one  on  the 
Incarnation,  which  as  it  was  preached  to  a  congregation  not 
one  of  whom  had  any  doubt  of  that  doctrine  and  to  whom 
the  Socinian's  theories  confuted  were  as  unknown  as  the 
Arimaspians,  was  exceedingly  well  adapted  to  trouble  and 
confuse  the  Shepperton  mind. 

Lowell  has  given  sound  advice  which  is  unhappily 
not  yet  unnecessary  in  his  homely  couplet  : 

It  is  surely  better  to  preach  to  the  living, 
Than  keeping  a  worrying  them  old  Jews. 

2.  At  the  beginning  of  your  ministry  do  not 
readily  engage  in  controversy.  Be  constructive 
rather  than  destructive.  Drawing  his  image  from 
the  fashionable  sport  of  his  day,  an  old  Puritan 
says:  "Controversies  require  sharpness  of  wit, 
and  some  cunning  to  find  out  Satan's  sophistries. 
Young  cockerels  that  begin  but  to  crow  may  not 
set  upon  the  great  cocks  of  the  game."  Besides, 
to  preach  positive  truth  will  give  a  tone  of  author- 
itativeness  to  your  sermons,  and  will  very  largely 
determine  the  cast  of  all  your  homiletical  work. 
"Eloquence,"  Pascal  says  admirably,  "should  pre- 
vail by  gentle  suasion,  not  by  constraint.  It 
should  reign,  not  tyrannize."^  As  a  fact  very  few 
preachers  can  argue  well,  and  very  few  hearers  are 
converted  by  controversy.     The   spirit    which    is 

iTulloch's  "Pascal,"  p.  109. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      245 

generated  is  not  the  spirit  in  which  the  truth  loves 
to  find  a  lodgment, 

3.  By  all  means  recognize  the  necessary  limita- 
tions of  argument.  Are  there  not  truths  of  the  first 
moment  in  our  religion  which  are  incapable  of  proof 
to  the  unregenerate  hearer  ?  Spiritual  things  are 
only  spiritually  discerned.  Argument  may  flatter 
the  vanity  of  an  unconverted  man,  and  leave  his 
conscience  untouched.  "  Good  logic  may  remove 
difficulties  which  impede  belief  in  sincere  souls, 
but  faith  has  its  roots  in  a  moral  temper,  and  the 
absence  of  this  temper  reduces  the  most  cogent 
arguments  to  silence."^  Our  first  duty  is  to  de- 
liver our  message,  to  proclaim  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ  and  to  press  it  home  on  the  acceptance  of 
our  hearers. 

4.  We  add  (as  having  a  close  bearing  on  the  last 
counsel),  respect  the  honorable  limits  of  pulpit 
controversy.  Is  there  not  too  much  reason  for 
Voltaire's  sneer  at  ''pulpit  Christianity  preached 
six  feet  above  contradiction " }  Have  we  not 
known  preachers  who  have  been  guilty  of  degrad- 
ing the  throne  of  Christian  oratory  into  a  coward's 
castle,  "from  which  a  man  surrounded  by  his 
friends,  in  the  absence  of  his  opponents,  secure  of 
applause  and  safe  from  a  reply,  denounces  those 
who  differ  from  him  "  .? ^  We  do  no  injustice  to  our 
vocation  when  we  assert  that  too  often  the  preacher 
under  these  circumstances  has  recalled  Hazlitt's 

1  *'Life  of  E.  B.  Pusey,"  by  H.  P.  Liddon   Vol.  I.,  p.  147. 
'  F.  W.  Robertson. 


246       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

description  of  Coleridge,  "  An  excellent  talker, 
very — if  you  let  him  start  from  no  premise  and 
come  to  no  conclusion."  Lord  Wensleydale, 
who  spoke  as  a  lawyer,  was  right  when  he  said  to 
an  English  clergyman :  "  Orators  of  your  profes- 
sion always  have  two  great  advantages :  they  have 
the  court  with  them,  and  the  other  side  is  not 
heard."  The  preacher  lays  himself  open  to  a  sus- 
picion of  unfairness,  and  is  even  guilty  of  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  moral  cowardice,  who  is  in  the 
habit  of  setting  up  an  imaginary  foe  which  indeed 
is  often  cast  like  Aaron's  calf  entirely  in  his  own 
furnace,  and  demolishing  it  for  the  benefit  of  his 
hearers.  To  a  curate  who  had  been  guilty  of  do- 
ing this,  his  rector  said  as  they  came  back  from 
church,  ''Very  good,  Mr.  Jones;  but  next  time 
get  a  better  infidel."  These  conventional  skeptics 
and  atheists  are  only  the  puppets  of  the  contro- 
versial rostrum — they  have  had  their  day  and 
should  cease  to  be.  As  a  rule  they  never  were 
anything  but  dummies,  and  it  is  time  that  they 
were  banished  from  the  pulpit  of  every  intelligent 
and  fair-minded  preacher. 

5.  This  counsel  suggests  another.  Thoroughly 
acquaint  yourself  with  the  subject  upon  which  you 
propose  to  argue.  Archbishop  Magee,  referring 
to  the  teacher  whose  influence  most  powerfully 
affected  him  in  his  college  days,  says:  "He  first 
taught  me  how  to  think ;  before  I  met  him  I  only 
knew  how  to  argue."*     Thought,  which   implies 

^  "Quarterly  Review,"  January,  1897,  p.  407. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      247 

reading  and  research,  must  lie  back  of  all  argu- 
ment worthy  of  the  name.  Consider  how  long  it 
takes  a  lawyer  to  get  up  his  case,  and  how  many 
and  various  are  the  sources  to  which  he  turns  for 
his  information.  No  lawyer  would  dare  venture 
into  court  to  argue  on  a  question  involving  a 
poisonous  drug  or  a  mechanical  invention  so  ill 
informed  on  the  technicalities  of  his  subject  as  is 
many  a  preacher  when  he  rises  in  his  pulpit  to 
demolish  what  he  ignorantly  brands  as  "science." 
When  Lord  Coleridge  said  that  "it  is  rare  to  find 
a  man  who  understands  clearly  the  point  for  which 
he  is  contending,  and  rarer  still  to  find  one  who 
keeps  to  it  if  he  does,"  he  spoke  as  a  man  who 
had  from  his  youth  been  a  hearer  of  sermons  as 
well  as  a  hearer  of  cases-at-law.  There  is  no 
longer  any  excuse  for  a  preacher's  ignorance  of 
science,  and  we  trust  that  the  day  has  forever 
passed  in  which  a  man  with  any  pretence  to  in- 
telligence will  attack  from  his  pulpit  what  is  now 
recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  allies  of  our 
Christian  religion.  As  for  the  man  who  rushes 
into  a  controversy  for  which  he  has  neither  natural 
aptitude  nor  acquired  equipment,  it  may  be  suffi- 
cient to  advise  him  to  lay  to  heart  the  advice  "  not 
to  raise  the  devil  unless  you  can  lay  him." 

6.  Is  it  necessary  to  add,  as  another  counsel, 
that  if  you  are  led  into  controversy  you  must  be 
careful  to  preserve  the  character  of  a  Christian 
gentleman  ? 

Controversy  necessarily  involves  a  trial  of  tern- 


248       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

per,  and  we  need  to  be  on  our  guard  against  that 
polemical  spirit  which  is  "  its  own  judge  and  its 
own  executioner."  ^  "  You  cannot,"  as  Carlyle 
says,  "pull  the  shirt  off  a  man — the  skin  off  a 
man,  in  a  way  that  will  please  him."  But  you  may 
make  the  operation  as  painless  as  possible,  and 
certainly  the  surgeon  should  himself  be  calm. 
The  rhetorical  nature  is  naturally  excitable,  and 
for  this  reason  you  had  better  never  engage  in 
controversy  unless  you  have  complete  control  over 
your  own  temper.  When  a  discussion  into  which 
he  had  been  drawn  became  unusually  heated, 
Robert  Hall  suddenly  closed  the  debate  and  re- 
tired to  a  distant  corner  of  the  room,  where  he  was 
overheard  praying,  "  Lamb  of  God  !  Lamb  of  God ! 
calm  my  perturbed  spirit."  This  was  the  wise 
course  to  pursue,  even  though  to  adopt  it  imperiled 
his  reputation  for  controversial  skill.  The  serene 
Addison  has  left  us  his  opinion  on  this  point : 
"  Nothing  can  be  more  unjust  or  ridiculous  than 
to  be  angry  with  another  because  he  is  not  of 
your  opinion,  .  .  You  cannot  make  a  more  false 
step  or  give  your  antagonist  a  greater  advantage 
over  you  than  by  falling  into  a  passion." 

7.  I  may  add,  as  pertinent  to  this  point,  the 
further  counsel,  Avoid  most  jealously  unnecessary 
controversy  with  brother  ministers  or  with  other 
Christian  denominations.  Whitefield  writes  to 
Wesley  that  "he  has  learned  a  lesson  from  the 
attacks  of  Luther  on  the  Zwinglians  and  others, 

1  Bishop  Lightfoot. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      249 

who  in  all  probability  equally  loved  the  Lord 
Jesus,  notwithstanding  they  might  differ  from  him 
in  other  points."  "  By  the  blessing  of  God,"  he 
adds — not  without  a  suspicion  of  combativeness  in 
his  own  tone — "  provoke  me  to  it  as  much  as  you 
please,  I  do  not  think  ever  to  enter  the  lists  of 
controversy  with  you  on  the  points  wherein  we 
differ."  More  praiseworthy  still  is  the  determina- 
tion of  Philip  Henry :  *'  I  am  resolved  to  spend  my 
strength  on  those  things  in  which  all  spiritual 
Christians  are  agreed  "  ;  and  we  can  all  sympathize 
with  gentle  Archbishop  Leighton  as  he  sighs  from 
the  midst  of  fierce  doctrinal  controversies :  "  Oh, 
what  are  the  things  we  seek  to  differ  about,  com- 
pared with  the  deep  things  of  God  ? " 

What  has  been  said  must  not  be  taken  as  depre- 
ciating an  intelligent  maintenance  and  setting  forth 
of  the  distinctive  principles  which  separate  between 
the  Christian  churches.  It  may  be  well  that  these 
be  treated  occasionally  in  our  ordinary  pulpit  min- 
istration ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  be  handled  in  such  a  spirit  as  to  command  the 
respect  and  win  the  admiration  of  those  who  may 
nevertheless  differ  from  our  own  conclusions. 

8.  Such  sermons  must  not  be  confined  to  a 
formal  logical  statement,  an  extreme  which  is 
scarcely  less  to  be  commended  than  the  opposite 
disposition  to  indulge  in  rhetorical  flights  when 
calm  reasoning  is  called  for. 

Our  hearers  love  illustrations,  they  appreciate  a 
careful  and  telling  choice  of  words,  they  enjoy  the 


250  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

rise  and  fall  of  rhetorical  discourse.  Logic  alone 
can  never  hold  an  audience ;  but  how  much  a  con- 
gregation values  the  careful  commingling  of  logic 
and  rhetoric  may  be  seen  in  the  deep  and  power- 
ful impression  made  on  his  hearers  by  Canon 
Liddon.  His  sermons  are  models  of  what  such 
discourses  should  be,  and  his  congregation  at  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  was  unsurpassed  for  intelligence, 

9.  As  a  last  counsel  we  would  say,  Let  Scrip- 
ture remain  your  final  appeal.  Treat  its  declara- 
tions as  dogmatic  and  authoritative.  It  is  not  with 
opinions  or  speculations  that  the  Bible  deals.  It 
"declares,"  from  the  keynote  in  the  first  verse  of 
Genesis  to  the  final  words  of  Revelation.  You 
will  do  well  to  distinguish  between  what  the  Scrip- 
tures themselves  say,  and  all  human  interpretations 
of  their  utterances,  and  comments  on  them.  ''  It 
is  a  mistake  to  which  many  good  Christian  people 
are  sorely  tempted  in  this  day,  to  assert  such  a 
connection  between  the  eternal  gospel  and  our 
deductions  from  the  principles  of  that  gospel  as 
that  the  refutation  of  the  one  must  be  the  refuta- 
tion of  the  other."  ^ 

Be  very  careful  in  appealing  to  Scripture  to  do 
so  intelligently  and  honestly.  Remember  Whately's 
distinction  :  "  A  desire  to  have  Scripture  on  our  side 
is  one  thing  ;  a  desire  to  be  on  the  side  of  Scripture 
is  quite  another."  Do  not  quote  verses  as  proof 
texts  unless  they  really  are  such,  and  before  quot- 
ing refer  to  the  Revised  version. 

*  Dr.  Alex.  Maclaren. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      25  I 

Never  encourage  the  impression  on  the  part  of 
your  hearers  that  the  Bible  is  on  its  trial,  and  that 
you  are  retained  for  its  defense.  No ;  as  one 
preacher  shrewdly  puts  it :  "  You  are  not  in  the 
pulpit  to  defend  the  Bible ;  the  Bible  is  in  the 
pulpit  to  defend  you."  The  apologetic  and  only 
half-believing  tone  of  the  eighteenth  century  ser- 
mons really  bred  the  skepticism  which  they  aimed 
to  remove.  How  wise  was  Dr.  Johnson's  answer 
to  a  friend  who  urged  that  truth  should  bear  ex- 
amination :  "  Yes,  sir,  but  it  is  painful  to  be  forced 
to  defend  it.  Consider,  sir,  how  should  you  like, 
though  conscious  of  your  innocence,  to  be  tried 
before  a  jury  for  a  capital  crime  once  a  week !  " 
Our  true  policy  is  to  assume  the  truths  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  burden  of  proof  rests  not  with  us,  but 
with  those  who  deny  them.  Surely  it  is  fair  at 
this  age  of  the  world  to  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  the  nineteen  centuries  and  more  of  Christian 
history;  to  the  years  crowded  with  incidents,  dur- 
ing which  the  Bible  has  held  its  own  in  the  great 
centers  of  thought  and  action ;  and  to  the  intel- 
lectual acuteness  and  moral  nobleness  of  those 
who  have  believed  in  it. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


I.  Reasons  for  Employing  Illustrations  in  the  Sermon. 
Illustration  mainly  useful  as  exciting  the  imagination.     Why 

appeal  to  the  imagination  in  the  sermon  ? 

1.  The  nobleness  of  the  imagination. 

2.  The  imagination  is  the  faculty  most  readily  reached. 

3.  It  is  possessed  by  every  one. 

4.  It  makes  the  truth  vivid. 

5.  It  is  constantly  appealed  to  in  Scripture. 

II.  The  Various  Kinds  of  Illustration. 

1.  Picturesque  Words. 

2.  The  Suggestion. 

3.  The  Simile. 

4.  The  Metaphor. 

5.  Full  Description, 

6.  The  Anecdote  or  Story. 

III.  Purposes  Served  by  Illustration. 

1.  Of  substantial  use  to  the  preacher:   (i)  In  the  conception 

of  the  sermon;  (2)  In  the  composition  of  the  sermon. 
Giving:  (a)  Freshness;  [d)  Clearness;  [c)  Economy  of 
expression. 

2.  Of  service  to  the  hearer  :   ( i )  Illustration  arrests  attention  ; 

(2)  Quickens  the  apprehension  of  truth  ;  (3)  Promotes 
conviction. 


XVII 

rhetorical  elements  in  the  sermon 
(continued) 

We  come  now  to  the  most  popular  of  the  rhetor- 
ical elements  of  the  sermon,  namely,  Illustration. 

It   is   not   less    important    than   ex- 

,  ,  .      Illustration 

egesis  and  argument,  but  we  put  it 

last   because  ornament   follows   construction,  and 

must  not  be  suffered  to  usurp  its  place.     One  can 

live  in  a  house  without  colored  windows,  but  hardly 

in  a  house  without  foundations  or  walls. 

I.  Let  us  consider,  first,  some  reasons  why 
illustrations  should  be  employed  in  the   sermon. 

The  main  purpose  served  by  an  illustration  is 
to  excite  imagination  in  the  mind  of  the  hearer. 
The  disposition  to  despise  this  gift  in  preaching 
arises  in  part,  no  doubt,  from  the  abuse  of  it  by 
some  preachers,  but  still  more  from  an  ignorance 
of  its  true  office  and  mission.  So  that  the  question 
before  us  is  not  so  much  why  a  preacher  should 
use  illustration,  as  it  is  why  he  should  appeal  to 
the  imagination.^ 

I.  I  ask  you  to  consider,  then,  the  nobleness  of 
the  imagination.  **  The  most  boundless  and  rest- 
less faculty  of  the  soul "  is  what  Thomas  Fuller — 

1  •'Essays,"  by  R.  H.  HuUon,  Vol.  II.,  p.  21 1. 

255 


256  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

himself  one  of  the  poets  of  the  pulpit — called  it. 
Napoleon,  who  knew  how  to  appeal  to  it  in  order 
to  kindle  the  enthusiasrn  of  his  soldiers,  said, 
**  Imagination  rules  the  world " ;  and  Carlyle 
placed  it  on  the  same  height  when  he  wrote  in 
"  Sartor  Resartus,"  "Yes,  friends,  not  our  logical, 
mensurative  faculty,  but  our  imaginative  one,  is 
king  over  us."  Coleridge  touches  a  point  of  spe- 
cial interest  to  the  preacher  when  he  affirms  that 
imagination  is  "  that  power  of  the  finite  mind  which 
as  far  as  possible  corresponds  to  the  creative  power 
in  the  infinite  mind."  By  this  he  means  that  it  is 
the  power  to  invent,  which  in  man  is  equivalent  to 
the  power  to  create  in  God. 

7.  Consider,  further,  that  imagination  is  the 
faculty  which  can  be  most  readily  reached  in  the 
mind  of  the  ordinary  hearer.  By  "struggling  to 
idealize  all  objects  of  perception,"^  it  clothes  those 
objects  with  interest,  incites  our  curiosity,  or  rouses 
our  enthusiasm.  What  was  before  inanimate  now 
lives.  No  mere  bare  statement  of  fact  as  to  the 
hours  during  which  the  builders  of  Jerusalem  un- 
der Nehemiah  toiled  could  set  the  scene  before  us 
so  completely  as  does  this  one  touch  :  "  So  he 
laboured  in  the  work,  and  half  of  them  held  the 
spears  from  the  rising  of  the  morning  till  the  stars 
appeared."^ 

Our  experience  as  preachers  will  confirm  the 
truth  of  Macaulay's  words  :  "  Logicians  may  reason 
about  abstractions,  but  the  great  mass  of  men  must 

^  Coleridge.  '^  Neh.  4  :  21. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      257 

have  images."  ^  So  it  happens  that  it  is  in  imagery 
that  discourse  clothes  itself  in  moments  when  "  it 
rises  above  the  ground  line  of  familiar  facts  and  is 
inflamed  with  passion  or  exalted  by  thought."^ 

3.  The  reason  why  this  element  of  illustration 
is  so  essential  in  the  sermon  seems  to  be  that  al- 
though often  dormant  or  even  suppressed,  every  one 
possesses  imagination.  As  Sainte-Beuve  puts  it : 
"  There  exists  in  almost  every  man  a  poet  who  has 
died  in  the  course  of  his  life."  A  still  more  fa- 
mous French  writer  illustrates  the  sway  of  the  im- 
agination thus  : 

The  greatest  philosopher  in  the  world,  passing  over  a 
precipice  upon  a  plank  a  little  broader  than  would  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  walking,  though  convinced  by  reason  of 
his  safety,  would  be  pverpowered  by  his  imagination. 
Many  a  one  could  not  even  think  of  being  in  such  a 
situation  without  sweating  or  turning  pale. — Pascal's 
'^  Thoughts:' 

4.  It  is  evident  then,  that  imagination  should 
be  pressed  into  the  service  of  the  preacher  if  only 
for  the  help  which  it  affords  him  in  making  truth 
vivid.  We  may  note  here  that  the  imagination 
appeals  alike  to  the  intellectual,  the  moral,  and  the 
spiritual  parts  of  our  nature.  Its  hold  upon  the 
intellect  is  seen  if  we  consider  imagination  as 
'*  the  use  which  the  reason  makes  of  the  material 
world."  ^     By  exciting  our  sympathy  and  helping 

*  "Essay  on  Milton."  ^ Emerson. 

^Emerson,    "Nature,"    Chap.   VL,  p.  57,  edition   1889.     See 
also  Mrs.  Orr's  "Life  of  Robert  Browning,"  p.  409. 

R 


258  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

US  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  others  it  becomes 
a  moral  agency  of  vast  influence.  Bunyan,  as 
some  one  has  said,  ''  saw  principles  like  men  walk- 
ing in  the  street."  The  definition  of  faith  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  illustrates  its  spiritual 
power:  ''Faith  is  the  assurance  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  proving  of  things  not  seen."^ 

5.  In  the  Bible  the  imagination  is  constantly 
appealed  to.  We  may  have  remarked  that  the  ob- 
jection to  the  use  of  illustrations  in  sermons 
comes  oftener  than  not  from  preachers  who  are 
themselves  better  versed  in  metaphysics  than  they 
are  in  Scripture.  A  return  to  biblical  preaching 
has  always  been  marked  by  a  return  to  the  use  of 
illustrations.  The  Puritans,  who  are  the  most 
scriptural  of  preachers,  are  also  the  preachers 
whose  sermons  are  the  richest  in  imagery.  Indeed, 
to  understand  it  aright,  the  Bible  of  all  books 
needs  the  help  of  the  imagination.  Something 
must  certainly  have  been  lacking  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  such  a  man  as  Bishop  Colenso,  when  on 
being  questioned  as  to  the  literal  accuracy  of  parts 
of  Scripture  which  were  meant  to  be  understood 
figuratively,  he  answered,  "  Shall  a  man  speak  lies 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord.**"  The  burst  of  praise 
in  the  Psalms,  the  vigorous  conception  of  the  Al- 
mighty in  the  Prophets,  the  use  which  Jesus  made 
of  the  world  about  him  in  his  parables,  the  gor- 
geous pictures  of  the  Revelation,  are  all  appeals 
to  the  imagination,  and  without  it  to  no  one  of 

^  Heb.  II  :  I,  R,  V.  ;  cf,  "Life  of  G.  J.  Romanes,"  p.  231. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      259 

them  can  we  do  justice.  '*  Our  Lord  condescended 
to  explain  himself  by  allusion  to  every  homely 
fact."  A  preacher  of  our  own  time  has  made  a 
practical  application  of  his  habit  of  appealing  to 
the  familiar  objects  in  Palestine,  which,  especially 
if  we  be  country  pastors,  may  be  of  service  to  us . 

Happy,  I  think,  are  they  who  living  in  the  country  and 
having  these  sights  continually  before  their  eyes,  can  avail 
themselves  thereby  of  the  silent  lessons  which  by  his 
precious  bidding  they  are  all  made  to  teach  ;  who  hear  in 
the  wind  the  noiseless  power  ;  who  see  in  the  gentle  rain 
and  dew  the  sweet  and  kindly  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
who  never  see  the  pruning  of  a  tree,  nor  the  sheep  wandering 
on  the  down  or  folded  in  the  night,  or  a  stray  sheep  away 
from  the  flock  ;  or  the  flowers  of  the  field  and  their  beauty  ; 
or  the  hen  gathering  her  chickens  under  her  wings  ;  or  any 
of  these  usual  country  sights,  without  calling  to  mind  what 
the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  had  said  of  each  of  them,  and 
how  they  all  and  each  tell  of  his  will,  and  of  his  power,  and 
of  his  infinite  goodness  and  love. — Moberly. 

II.  We  proceed,  secondly,  to  enumerate  the  va- 
rious kinds  of  illustrations  which  may  be  used  in 
sermons,  confining  ourselves  to  those  which  are 
the  most  used  and  the  most  useful. 

I.  We  begin  with  the  preacher's  vocabulary. 
Give  vitality  to  your  sentences  by  the  use  of  pic- 
turesque words.  Train  yourself  to  choose  those 
which  are  concrete  rather  than  abstract.  There 
are  preachers  who  without  employing  many  illus- 
trations gain  all  the  effect  served  by  them,  and  do 
so  more  economically,  by  this  method.  **  Pic- 
turesque expression  "  is  what  Lord  Brougham  de- 


260       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

manded  in  the  plea  of  the  lawyer,  and  an  occa- 
sional visitor  to  the  courts  of  justice  says  that  he 
can  never  forget  how  a  venerable  judge  in  sen- 
tencing some  youths  to  be  hanged  for  murder  ex- 
pressed his  pain  that  he,  an  old  and  feeble  man, 
should  send  two  into  eternity  before  himself  who 
were  "  in  the  gristle  and  not  yet  in  the  bone  of 
manhood."^  Who  that  is  at  all  familiar  with  the 
pages  of  Jeremy  Taylor  has  not  remarked  how 
they  sparkle  with  gems  ?  Even  on  a  casual  glance 
the  eye  is  caught  by  words  which  at  once  make 
their  impression  and  tell  their  story. 

2.  Next  in  order  to  picturesque  language  comes 
the  Suggestion.  Here  by  a  few  rapid  touches  the 
desired  effect  is  produced.  The  mind  catches  the 
illustration  as  it  were  at  an  angle,  while  it  is  giv- 
ing its  chief  attention  to  the  thing  illustrated. 
Just  enough  is  said  to  call  up  a  picture,  that  and 
no  more.  Demosthenes  did  not  divert  the 
thoughts  of  his  hearers  from  the  vote  of  a  united 
community,  but  only  intensified  the  impression  of 
its  irresistible  power  when  he  used  one  of  the 
most  striking  suggestions  in  all  oratory:  "The 
people  gave  their  voice ;  and  the  danger  which 
hung  upon  our  borders  went  by  like  a  cloud." 
This  kind  of  illustration  is  very  effective  in  poetry. 
The  insatiable  craving  of  war  for  blood  needs  but 
one  adjective,  and  we  feel  its  force  when  the  poet 
Gray,  wTites  of  the  "thirsty  lance"  of  Mars.  All 
the  mystery  and  pathos  of  the  deepening  twilight 

*  R.  Gee,  "  Our  Sermons, "  p.  222. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      26 1 

at  sea  are  suggested  by  Tennyson  in  the  single 
phrase,  ''evening  bell"  in  one  of  the  last  of  his 
poems  : 

Twilight  and  evening  bell; 

And  after  that  the  dark. 

In  sermons  the  suggestion  is  not  very  common, 
perhaps  because  to  make  it  needs  a  richer  and  read- 
ier imagination  than  most  preachers  possess. 
Beecher  illustrates  the  power  when  he  calls  the 
twenty-third  '' the  nightingale  of  the  Psalms."  So 
does  Dr.  Maclaren  in  many  of  his  happiest  turns 
of  thought,  as  when,  for  example,  depicting  the 
awful  power  of  sin  to  perpetuate  and  increase  it- 
self he  says  :  "  Every  sin  tells  upon  character  and 
makes  the  repetition  of  itself  more  and  more  easy. 
'None  is  barren  among  them.'  And  all  sin  is 
linked  together  in  a  slimy  tangle  like  a  field  of  sea- 
weed, so  that  a  man  once  caught  in  its  oozy  fingers 
is  almost  sure  to  drown  ;"  or  when  he  puts  before 
his  hearers  one  of  the  main  characteristics  of  Paul 
in  a  brief  statement  and  an  equally  brief  illustra- 
tion:  "The  apostle's  mind  acquires  force  by  mo- 
tion, and  like  a  chariot-wheel  catches  fire  as  it  re- 
volves." 

3.  From  the  suggestion  it  is  only  a  short  step 
to  the  Simile,  where  one  thing  is  likened  to  an- 
other. To  this  class  of  illustrations  belong  the 
parables  of  Jesus. ^  Patrick  followed  the  example 
of  his  Master  when  to  the  barbarous  Irish  tribe  he 

1  Matt.  7  :  24-27. 


262  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

illustrated  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  by  plucking 
from  the  green  sward  at  his  feet  the  three-leaved 
shamrock,  and  making  it  the  text  of  his  explanation 
and  appeal.  Jeremy  Taylor  would  be  supreme  in 
the  use  of  similes  were  it  not  that  he  carries  his 
preference  for  them  too  far,  and  becomes  himself 
their  slave  rather  than  their  master. 

4.  The  Metaphor  differs  from  the  simile  inas- 
much as  it  expresses  likeness  without  the  signs  of 
comparison.  John  the  Baptist  called  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees  "a  generation  of  vipers";  Je- 
sus revealed  his  knowledge  of  Herod's  character 
when  he  spoke  of  him  as  "that  fox";^  and  Paul 
used  no  qualifying  clause  when  turning  to  Ananias 
he  said,  "God  shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall."^ 

Carlyle,  who  himself  used  them  with  great  ef- 
fect, speaks  of  the  "■  prodigious  influence  of  meta- 
phors." In  preaching,  as  in  all  descriptions  of 
oratory,  when  well  chosen  they  are  most  effective. 
A  suggestion  as  well  as  a  metaphor  can  be  found 
in  the  powerful  imagery  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
when  to  illustrate  the  tendency  of  one  error  to 
drive  its  victim  into  the  embrace  of  another,  which 
is  seemingly  its  very  opposite,  he  speaks  of  the 
man  who  is  "borne  on  the  wings  of  a  boundless 
skepticism  into  the  bosom  of  an  unfathomable 
superstition."  No  elaboration  could  add  form  to 
Beecher's  contemptuous  picture  of  him  who  is 
false  to  his  country:  "A  traitor  is  good  fruit  to 
hang  from  the  bough  of  the  tree  of  liberty." 

*  Matt.  3:7:  Luke  13  :  32.  '  Acts  23  :  3. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      263 

5.  The  easiest  of  all  forms  of  illustration,  and 
the    one   which    is  the   most    affected    by  young 
speakers,  is  Full  Description.     In  composing  your 
first  sermons  you  may  find  that  your  difficulty  is 
not  so  much  to  enlarge  as  to  curtail.     This  does 
not  arise,  however,  from  the  abundance    of    your 
thought  so  much  as  from  the  perilous  ease  with 
which  descriptive  passages  are  spun  out.     If  you 
will    fearlessly    go    through    the    adjectives    and 
slaughter  those  which  really  are  unnecessary  to 
the  impression  that  you  desire  to  make,  and  ex- 
change the  house-painter's  brush  for  a  camel's-hair 
pencil,  and  be  content  with  covering  a  foot  of  can- 
vas where  now  you  cover  a  yard,  you  will  have  the 
satisfaction  of    discovering  that  any  measure   of 
thought  there  was  in  your  sermon  to  begin  with 
has  survived  the  operation.     A  great  word  painter, 
such  as  Thomas  Guthrie,  may  be  allowed  to  in- 
dulge in  full   description,  and  all  the  more  so  be- 
cause he  knew  how  to  use  his  illustrations  as  ar- 
guments; but   it  is  a  dangerous  practice  for  the 
most  of  us,  and  taking  up  too  much  of  the  lim- 
ited space  allotted  to  the  sermon,  leaves  on  the 
hearer's  mind  the  impression  that  he  has  been  in  a 
picture  gallery  rather  than  in  a  church. 

6.  A  word  or  two  will  be  sufficient  for  another 
class  of  illustrations,  namely,  the  Anecdote  or  Story. 
The  story  is  preferable  to  the  anecdote  because  it 
is  not  so  apt  to  be  personal  to  the  speaker  ;  but 
whether  it  be  the  story  or  the  anecdote  the 
preacher  will  do  well  to  be  on  his  guard  against 


264       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

both  of  these  easy  methods  of  filling  up  the  time 
and  eking  out  the  sermon.  They  are  the  snares 
into  which  indolence  and  incapacity  fall  readily 
enough.  However  illiterate  she  may  have  been, 
the  old  woman  was  right  at  heart  when  she  pre- 
ferred staying  at  home  and  reading  Spurgeon's 
sermons  to  going  to  hear  her  own  preacher  whose 
sermons,  she  said,  were  "nothing  but  antidotes." 
She  needed  something  more  solid  and  satisfying 
than  a  succession  of  stories.  That  preacher  is 
certainly  on  the  down  grade  who  suffers  himself 
to  fall  into  what  John  Wilkes  so  wittily  character- 
ized as  his  **anecdotage."  Probably  it  requires 
more  skill  to  tell  a  story  well,  just  at  the  right 
time,  at  just  the  right  length,  and  with  evident 
aptness  to  the  subject,  than  to  use  any  other  kind 
of  illustration.  Told  with  these  precautions  there 
can  be  no  question  but  that  it  is  often  very  effec- 
tive. Emerson,  who  himself  uses  stories  very  spar- 
ingly, yet  found  himself  ''struck  and  stimulated 
by  a  good  anecdote,  any  trial  of  heroism,  of  faith- 
ful service." 

If  there  is  one  tendency  more  to  be  guarded 
against  than  telling  stories  and  anecdotes,  it  is  that 
to  which  this  habit  is  very  prone  to  lead,  I  mean 
appropriating  to  yourself  the  adventures  or  expe- 
riences of  another.  A  practised  orator  says  that 
the  young  speaker  "  should  never  tell  long  stories, 
and  if  he  tell  any  story  he  should  never  say  that  it 
is  a  true  story  and  that  he  knew  the  parties.  This 
makes  it  a  question  of  veracity,  instead  of  a  ques- 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      265 

tion  of  art."^  The  most  serious  objection  to  the 
practice  is  of  course  its  dishonesty,  and  yet  the 
evidence  is  only  too  convincing  that  many  a 
speaker  in  the  fervor  and  flow  of  pulpit  address  is 
tempted  to  commit  this  sin.  The  very  power 
which  enables  him  to  realize  the  scene,  persuades 
him  for  the  moment  that  he  himself  was  actor  in 
it. 

Although  they  are  commended  by  many  preach- 
ers we  venture  to  utter  a  note  of  warning  against 
what  are  known  as  Cyclopedias  of  Illustrations. 
To  them  in  part  it  is  due  that  an  illustration  origi- 
nally fresh  and  attractive  becomes  threadbare  and 
hackneyed,  the  very  Wandering  Jew  of  the  pul- 
pit, and  travels  the  ceaseless  round  of  a  thousand 
sermons  from  January  to  December,  never  season- 
able, and  yet  apparently  always  in  season.  Who 
has  not  wearied  of  the  green  oasis  and  palm  trees 
in  the  desert,  and  longed  rather  for  the  desolate 
stretches  of  sand  whose  monotony  it  was  supposed 
to  relieve }  This  much  patronized  illustration  can 
certainly  be  traced  back  to  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Who  has  not  wished  that 
Michael  Angelo  had  left  the  angel  to  slumber  in 
the  stone  and  said  not  a  word  about  it }  One 
original  illustration,  suggested  to  your  own  mind 
by  a  walk  in  the  country,  or  by  the  reading  of  a 
volume  of  poetry,  or  by  a  round  of  pastoral  calls, 
is  worth  a  whole  cyclopedia  of  borrowed  material. 
What  Robert   Hall  said  of  his  friend  Sir  James 

^  Col.  Robert  Ingersoll. 


266  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

Mackintosh  is  applicable,  with  a  difference,  to 
many  a  preacher  who  invests  in  a  volume  of  this 
sort  of  literature  and  then  proceeds  to  spread  its 
contents  in  thick  layers  over  his  sermons  :  "  His 
mind  is  a  spacious  repository,  hung  round  with 
beautiful  images,  and  when  he  wants  one  he  has 
nothing  to  do  but  reach  up  his  hand  to  a  peg  and 
take  it  down.  But  his  images  are  not  manufac- 
tured in  his  mind  ;  they  are  imported." 

III.  What,  it  may  next  be  asked,  are  the  pur- 
poses served  by  illustration  ? 

I.  They  are  of  substantial  use  to  the  preacher. 

(i)  The  element  of  imagination  needs  to  enter 
into  the  conception  of  his  sermon.  To  himself 
imagination  will  be  of  service  by  virtue  of  a  cer- 
tain power  to  renew  thought,  indeed,  almost  to 
create  it.  He  will  look  through  forms,  words,  and 
even  doctrines,  and  see  in  them  as  they  are  set  in 
fresh  lights  so  much  fresh  material.  Ideas  which 
are  familiar  and  trite,  will  now  come  to  him  in  new 
and  rich  clothing,  invested  with  an  unexpected 
charm. 

(2)  When  he  proceeds  to  compose  his  sermon, 
his  imagination  will  continue  to  help  him.  It 
will  give  to  his  discourse  the  three  advantages 
of  freshness,  clearness,  and  economy  of  expres- 
sion. How  greatly  he  may  profit  by  possessing  a 
fresh  way  of  putting  truth  is  apparent  if  we  re- 
member that  he  has  no  new  gospel  to  preach,  no 
new  story  to  tell.  It  is  because  ''the  preacher 
has   an  oft-told  tale  to   set  before  his  people  that 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      26/ 

the  subject-matter  of  Christian  teaching  pre-emi- 
nently requires  illustration."  ^  A  sermon  from 
the  text  ''I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,"^ 
may  naturally  enough  suggest  a  study  of  the  five 
senses.  A  commonplace  preacher  will  dilate  upon 
this  theme  in  a  commonplace  way ;  but  listen  to 
Bunyan  as  he  puts  it  before  us  in  concrete  form  : 

The  famous  town  of  Mansoul  had  five  gates  in  at  which 
to  come,  and  out  of  which  to  go,  and  these  were  made  like- 
wise answerable  to  the  walls,  to  wit,  and  such  as  could 
never  be  opened  nor  forced,  but  by  the  will  and  leave  of 
those  within.  The  names  of  these  gates  were  these  :  Ear- 
gate,  Eye-gate,  Mouth-gate,  Nose-gate,  Feet-gate. —/<?/^« 
Bunyan,   "  The  Holy  Wary 

As  to  clearness  so  much  has  been  already  said 
about  it  that  in  this  place  it  will  be  enough  to  re- 
mind the  preacher  that  an  effective  sermon  needs 
both  definition  and  description — the  one  is  the 
outline,  the  other  the  filling  in  of  the  picture. 
Now  illustrations  are  the  filling  in  of  the  picture ; 
and  they  are  essential  to  clearness  because  they 
quicken  comprehension,  and  by  appealing  to  imagi- 
nation, open  a  wide  door  to  the  reason.  An  idea 
which  cannot  be  painted  is  an  idea  which  ought 
not  to  be  preached.  Almost  certainly  it  will  not 
be  understood  by  a  general  audience. 

Economy  of  expression  is  also  attained  by  a 
wise  use  of  illustration.  At  once  an  impression 
is  conveyed  to  the  mind  such  as  even  a  long  and 

1  Andrew  Fuller.  '^  Ps.  139  :  14. 


268  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

detailed  description  might  fail  to  give.  When 
William  Knibb,  coming  back  to  England  from  Ja- 
maica to  plead  for  the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  threw 
down  on  the  platform  of  Exeter  Hall,  in  London, 
the  very  fetters  and  chains  with  which  the  Negroes 
were  loaded,  he  instantly  attained  his  purpose. 
Here  was  visible  history,  and  the  audience  was  in 
a  moment  stirred  to  a  passion  of  indignation  which 
nothing  short  of  emancipation  could  allay. 

2.  Equally  serviceable  are  illustrations  to  the 
hearer. 

(i)  They  arrest  attention.  "  An  illustration  has 
more  authority  than  a  command."^  Preaching  on 
Abram,  Bishop  Wilberforce  cannot  fail  to  interest 
his  congregation  when  he  recalls  this  incident : 

Here  we  stand  among  the  great  progenitors  of  our  race. 
Abram' s  birth  was  but  two  hundred  and  eighty  years  after 
the  flood  ;  a  shorter  period  than  has  passed  since  Queen 
Elizabeth  sat  under  a  tree,  which  is  still  alive  in  Hatfield 
Park,  and  saw  the  approach  of  the  royal  messenger  who 
brought  her  instead  of  the  expected  warrant  to  a  dungeon 
and  a  scaffold,  the  tidings  of  her  succession  to  the  throne 
of  England. 

(2)  They  quicken  the  apprehension  of  truth. 
Dr.  Guthrie,  who  assuredly  deserves  to  be  heard  on 
this  point,  says  :  "  By  awakening  and  gratifying 
the  imagination,  the  truth  finds  its  way  more  read- 
ily to  the  heart  and  makes  a  deeper  impression  on 
the  memory.  The  story,  like  a  float,  keeps  it  from 
sinking ;  like  a  nail,  fastens  it  in  the  mind ;  like  the 

^  Prof.  Austin  Phelps. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      269 

feathers  of  an  arrow,  makes  it  strike ;  and  like  the 
barb,  makes  it  stick."  Notice  how  even  in  enfor- 
cing the  advantages  of  illustrating,  Guthrie  uses 
four  illustrations.  Who  after  reading  these  sen- 
tences can  forget  that  illustrations  float,  hold  fast, 
strike,  stick.-*  So  Emerson  says,  in  praise  of  his 
friend,  Thoreau,  that  "he  knew  the  worth  of  the 
imagination  for  the  uplifting  and  consolation  of 
human  life,  and  liked  to  throw  every  thought  into 
a  symbol."  Who  can  forget  Victor  Hugo's  thought 
of  his  good  bishop  who  ''would  comfort  the  grief 
that  looks  at  a  grave  by  showing  it  the  grief  that 
looks  at  a  star." 

(3)  Illustrations  promote  conviction.  Remem- 
ber that  the  resemblance  on  which  an  illustration 
turns,  often  suggested  by  the  word  "like,"  ought 
not  to  be  accidental.  It  inheres  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  things  compared.  A  really  good  illustra- 
tion should  have  points  of  close  resemblance  to 
the  truth  which  it  illustrates.  Archbishop  Trench 
'is  justified  in  insisting  that  because  of  the  subtle 
harmonies  which  exist  between  the  natural  and 
spiritual  worlds,  our  Lord's  parables  "are  argu- 
ments, and  may  be  challenged  as  witnesses."^  To 
a  friend  who  expressed  to  Sir  William  Hamilton 
his  surprise  that  he,  the  most  eminent  of  Scottish 
metaphysicians,  should  be  so  constant  a  member 
of  Dr.  Guthrie's  congregation,  the  reply  was  :  "  Dr. 
Guthrie  has  the  best  of  all  logic  ;  there  is  but  one 
step  between   his  premise   and    his    conclusion." 

^Trench,  "Notes  on  the  Parables,"  Introductory  Essay. 


2/0  THE    MAKING    OF    THE   SERMON 

''When  metaphors,"  said  another  admirer  of  the 
great  Scotch  preacher,  "  rest  on  the  unity  between 
God's  world  and  man's  nature,  they  are  arguments 
as  well  as  illustrations.  "  * 

Coleridge  anticipated  this  statement  when  he 
claimed  for  painting,  which  is  of  course  a  form  of 
imagination,  that  it  is  the  intermediate  something 
between  a  thought  and  a  thing."  What  Mr. 
Joseph  Cook  has  said  of  Wendell  Phillips  is  no 
doubt  to  a  certain  extent  true  of  any  speaker  who 
has  learned  to  use  illustration  wisely :  "  The  seer  is 
the  logician  who  melts  his  logic  in  the  fire  of  his 
emotion,  and  Mr.  Phillips  in  oratory  was  a  seer. 
His  epigrams,  his  historical  allusions,  his  anec- 
dotes, his  powerful  passages  of  invective,  are  often 
arguments  on  fire." 

iDr.  John  Ker,  see  *'Life  of  Thomas  Guthrie,  d.  d.,"  Vol. 
II.,  p.  359,  ed.  1875. 


RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 
SERMON— Continued 


SUMMARY 


IV.  Sources  From  Which  Illustrations  May  Be  Drawn. 

1.  The  Bible. 

2.  Daily  life. 

3.  History. 

4.  Travel  and  scenery. 

5.  Natural  history. 

6.  Literature. 

7.  Science. 

8.  Art. 

V.  Counsels. 

1.  Keep  illustration  subordinate  to  thought. 

2.  Do  not  illustrate  over  much. 

3.  Remember  that  an  illustration  must  illustrate. 

4.  Let  your  illustration  be  apparent  at  once. 

5.  Let  your  illustrations  be  suitable  :  (i)  Not  equally  good  in 

all  places ;    or  (2)  Under  all    circumstances ;  (3)    Should 
be  accurate. 

6.  Make  your  Bible  the  storehouse  for  your  illustrations. 


XVIII 

rhetorical  elements  in  the  sermon 
(continued) 

We  may  now  pass  on  to  glance  at  the  various 
sources  from  which  illustrations  may  be  drawn. 

I.  Among  these  not  alone  his  rev- 
erence for  the  book  as  a  divine  reve-    Illustration 

(Continued) 

lation  but  also  his  appreciation  of  its 
worth  for  this  special  purpose,  will  lead  the 
preacher  to  put  the  Bible  first.  The  same  vol- 
ume which  gives  him  his  text  will  also  furnish  him 
with  his  clearest  statements  of  doctrine,  his  most 
convincing  arguments,  and  his  most  effective  illus- 
tration. How  well  the  Puritans  knew  this  their  ser- 
mons, studded  with  Scripture  names,  incidents, 
and  allusions,  testify.^  "  No  illustrations,"  says 
Spurgeon,  "are  so  good  as  those  from  Scripture." 
Its  biographies  and  histories,  its  types  and  ordi- 
nances, its  felicities  of  thought  and  language, 
have  all  of  them  this  in  their  favor,  that  they  are 
already  familiar  in  our  mouths  as  household  words. 
''Woven  for  three  centuries  into  the  life  of  all 
that  is  best  and  noblest  in  English  history,"  ^  the 
Bible  in   our  version  has  a  record  almost  as  ex- 

iSee  Nichol,  "  Library  of  Standard  Puritan  Divines." 
*  Professor  Huxley. 

s  273 


274  I'HE    MAKING    OF   tHE   SERMON 

tended  and  quite  as  illustrious  in  America.  The 
ear  of  the  congregation  welcomes  any  allusion  to 
the  book  which  has  ''  taken  such  hold  of  the  world 
as  no  other."  ^  Where  Washington  Irving  wak- 
ened many  a  sleeping  fancy,  as  he  gratefully 
acknowledged  in  his  old  age,  our  hearers  will  find 
their  minds  quickened  as  well.  We  counsel  that, 
so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  you  draw  the  illus- 
trations for  your  sermon  in  the  first  instance  from 
the  text.  In  preaching,  for  example,  from  Isa.  40  : 
6-S  ( **The  voice  said.  Cry,"  etc.),  the  hillsides  and 
villages  of  Palestine  will  enrich  your  sermons 
with  material.  Paul's  words  in  2  Cor.  3:18  will 
suggest  a  group  of  images  drawn  from  the  phrase 
"  beholding  as  in  a  glass."  A  whole  sermon  lies 
in  the  etymology  of  the  Greek  word  translated 
"clothed  upon"  in  i  Peter  5  :  5-7. 

2.  A  true  preacher  is  seen  to  advantage  in  the 
use  which  he  makes  of  the  incidents  of  daily 
life.  His  pastoral  experiences,  his  own  observa- 
tions on  the  streets,  in  the  home,  while  traveling, 
and  in  mingling  with  his  fellows,  will  all  enrich  his 
treasury  of  illustrations.  What  Mr.  Ruskin  calls 
"imagination  penetrative,"  the  faculty  which 
teaches  us  to  realize  the  actual  rather  than  the  in- 
visible, is  of  service  here.  Of  course  the  life  all 
about  him  must  be  referred  to  judiciously  by  the 
preacher.  What  com  ^s  to  him  in  confidence  he 
must  never  make  public,  he  must  avoid  becoming 
too  familiar  and  commonplace  in  the  illustrations 

^Theodore  Parker. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE   SERMON      2/5 

taken  from  unheroic  scenes  and  incidents,  and  he 
must  repress  the  egotism  which  in  the  fluent 
speaker  so  easily  becomes  a  second  nature.  But 
no  preacher  will  go  astray  so  long  as  he  takes  Je- 
sus as  a  model.  His  figures  were  drawn,  oftener 
than  not,  from  his  own  life  and  from  the  lives  of 
his  neighbors.  The  lamp  and  the  bushel,  the  coin 
lost  in  the  dusky  Oriental  cottage,  the  hen  and 
her  chickens,  the  sheep  wandering  on  the  hills  or 
safely  sheltered  in  the  fold,  the  wheat  and  tares 
springing  up  together  in  the  field,  the  net  cast 
into  the  sea,  the  wind  blowing  now  east  and  now 
west,  the  ruddy  heavens  promising  a  fair  morrow, 
the  lowering  sky  forecasting  foul  weather,  these 
and  a  hundred  other  homely  touches,  gave  life  and 
animation  to  the  discourses  of  our  Lord. 

3.  Illustrations  drawn  from  history  are  not  so 
popular  now  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  the  Puri- 
tans, whose  pages  seem  to  lay  under  contribution 
all  the  resources  of  heathen  mythology  and  classi- 
cal story.  The  preacher  of  to-day  needs  to  avoid 
two  extremes ;  he  must  refrain  from  referring  to 
facts  which  are  not  well  understood,  and  yet  he 
must  not  fall  into  triteness.  The  familiar  terms 
on  which  he  lives  with  the  lives  of  Caesar  or  Al- 
exander the  Great  suggest  that  he  has  been  ran- 
sacking his  Cyclopedia  of  Illustrations,  the  com- 
mon pasturage  for  so  many  pretentious  sermons. 
*'  We  have  heard  much  of  late  about  Socrates,  but 
very  little  about  the  Saviour,"  was  the  hint  which 
a  young  preacher  received  from  one  of  his  judi- 


2/6  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

cious  hearers,  and  which  sent  him  home  resolved 
to  turn  from  his  second-hand  storehouse  to  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  Yet  by  a  wise  employment 
of  historical  illustrations  you  can  give  prominence 
to  the  truth  that  through  all  the  ages  God  has 
been  controlling  his  world,  and  your  experience 
will  no  doubt  bear  out  Dean  Stanley's  assertion 
that^  **of  the  three  great  manifestations  of  God 
to  man — in  nature,  in  conscience,  in  the  course  of 
human  events — God  in  history  will  to  a  large  part 
of  mankind  be  the  most  persuasive." 

4.  Travel  and  scenery  are  of  especial  service  to 
a  preacher  who  is  blest  with  "the  painter's  eye," 
and  who  has  learned  the  truth  of  Shakespeare's 
words : 

What  if  earth 
Be  but  the  shadow  of  heaven,  and  things  therein 
Each  to  the  other  like,  more  than  on  earth  is  thought. 

He  is  indeed  fortunate  if  he  possess  in  any  meas- 
ure what  a  critic^  claims  for  Tennyson,  ''the 
power  of  compelling  the  external  world  to  lend 
him  a  language  for  the  noblest  feelings."  Jeremy 
Taylor  comes  back  from  the  fields  in  springtime 
and  writes,  ''every  furrow  in  the  book  of  Psalms 
is  sown  with  seeds  of  thanksgiving."  Spurgeon 
passes  some  fine  old  trees  which  are  marked  with 
a  white  cross  to  indicate  that  they  are  soon  to  be 
cut  down.  "So,"  he  comments,  "everything  we 
have  here  is  marked  with  the  woodman's  cross, 

1  "Life  of  A.  P.  Stanley,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  318. 
2R.  H.  Hutton,  "Essays,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  315. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      277 

and  the  axe  must  fall  on  all  our  joys."  Dr.  Ra- 
leigh turns  from  a  map  of  Palestine  and  comment- 
ing upon  the  danger  which  besets  us  of  being  too 
much  self-inclosed,  says  that  the  Christian  must 
beware  lest  he  have  "a  Dead  Sea  in  the  Holy 
Land  of  his  nature."  Mark  Guy  Pearse  sees  the 
upward  swirl  of  the  turbulent  waters  just  where 
the  tidal  current  and  the  strong  set  of  the  ocean 
meet  around  Cape  Horn,  swarming  with  fish 
which  are  brought  to  the  surface  only  to  fall  vic- 
tims to  the  hungry  sea-fowl,  and  he  catches  the  pic- 
ture of  those  who  are  at  once  too  religious  to  be- 
long to  the  world  and  too  worldly  to  belong  to  re- 
ligion, torn  by  both  and  satisfied  by  neither." 
"  A  Christian's  old  age,"  says  another  preacher, 
"may  be  like  Mount  Hecla,  which  bears  snow  on 
its  crest  and  a  fire  in  its  heart";  in  the  nests  of 
birds  plainly  visible  on  the  naked  branches.  Dr.  J. 
W.  Alexander  finds  a  comparison  for  the  hiding- 
places  of  man  discovered  by  afifliction  ;  the  remem- 
brance of  his  father's  orchard  gives  Beecher  an 
illustration  of  a  good  old  age  :  *'  I  think  every  man 
ought  to  carry  his  boughs  so  full  of  fruit  that  like 
the  apples  which  drop  from  silent  clew  they  may 
fall  by  the  weight  of  their  own  ripeness  for  who- 
ever needs  to  be  refreshed";  "Niagara  stopped 
once,"  a  preacher  of  our  own  time  says;  "the  ice 
got  into  it,  and  the  rainbow  disappeared  and  the 
music  was  hushed :  but  no  ice  ever  gets  into  the 
stream  of  God's  love  "  ;  and  from  another  pulpit 
we  gather   a   singularly  happy  use  of  the  art  of 


2/8  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

navigation :  "  The  mariner  must  pay  attention  to 
four  L's,  namely,  the  log,  the  lead,  the  latitude, 
and  the  lookout.  The  log  tells  of  what  is  behind, 
the  lead  speaks  of  what  is  below,  the  latitude 
shows  what  is  around,  and  the  lookout  declares 
what  is  before.  And  herein  is  a  sea  parable, 
speaking  plainly  of  the  voyage  of  life." 

5.  A  mine  of  illustrations  too  much  neglected 
by  most  preachers  may  be  found  in  natural  his- 
tory. To  find  how  rich  the  Bible  is  in  allusions  to 
its  stores  may  be  alike  a  discovery  and  a  reproof 
to  him  who  for  the  first  time  makes  a  study  of  the 
plants  and  trees,  the  insects,  reptiles,  and  beasts, 
mentioned  in  its  pages.  A  good  popular  "  Natu- 
ral History,"  which  the  preacher  may  make  his 
companion  in  his  summer  rambles,  is  to  be  recom- 
mended, and  a  new  world  may  open  to  him  who 
carries  with  him  White's  ''Natural  History  of  Sel- 
borne,"  the  "  Life  of  Audubon,  the  Naturalist," 
Darwin's  "  Voyage  of  the  Beagle,"  Isaac  Walton's 
inimitable  "Angler,"  or  the  charming  "Little 
Rivers "  ^  of  one  of  Walton's  most  sympathetic 
followers.  The  works  of  Dr.  Hugh  Macmillan 
will  discover  to  him  how  an  excellent  preacher  who 
is  also  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature,  can  find 
"  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 
sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything." 

Bunyan  knew  his  garden  or  he  would  not  have 
written,  "Christians  are  like  the  several  flowers 
that  have  each  of  them  the  dew  of  heaven  which, 

^  By  Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.  D. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      2/9 

being  shaken  with  the  wind,  they  let  fall  at  each 
other's  roots,  whereby  they  are  jointly  nourished 
and  become  nourishers  of  others";  and  the  old 
preacher  was  no  stranger  to  the  barn,  who  prayed : 
*'  When  the  flail  of  affliction  is  upon  me,  let  me 
not  be  the  chaff  that  flies  in  thy  face,  but  let  me 
be  the  corn  that  lies  at  thy  feet."  An  Australian 
pasture,  where  the  cattle  seeking  for  grass  find 
only  a  brown  stalk  that  crumbled  to  dust  in  their 
mouths,  suggests  to  Dr.  Maclaren  "  the  world 
without  Jesus  Christ."  Robertson,  of  Irvine, 
draws  a  lesson  from  the  symbolism  of  trees  when 
he  says :  "  Some  may  never  carry  in  their  hands 
the  palm  branch  of  fame,  some  may  never  hold 
the  olive  branch  of  peace,  some  never  handle  the 
evergreen  of  hope ;  but  all  must  bear  the  myrtle 
and  cypress,  as  they  march  on  to  the  dirgelike 
music  of  'All  flesh  is  grass.*"  From  the  fact 
mentioned  by  Mark  that  Jesus  before  feeding  the 
multitude  made  them  sit  down  on  '*  the  green 
grass,"  ^  Ruskin  draws  the  lesson,  "He  gave  them 
the  seed  of  the  herb  ;  he  bade  them  sit  down  upon 
the  herb  itself,  which  was  as  great  a  gift  in  its  fitness 
for  their  joy  and  rest  as  its  perfect  fruit  for  their 
sustenance."^  ''  If  all  that  you  want  out  of  Chris- 
tianity," Professor  Drummond  says,  '*is  that  it  shall 
keep  you  straight,  you  cannot  get  it.  Keeping 
straight  is  only  one  of  the  functions  of  the  new 
nature.     You  cannot  get  a  wing  without  getting  a 

1  Mark  6  :  39. 
2  "Modern  Painters,"  Vol,  IV.,  Chap.  XIV, 


280  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

muscle  which  will  work  the  wing,  nor  the  muscle 
without  a  bone  which  will  form  a  fulcrum  for  the 
muscle,  and  you  cannot  get  this  bone  without  get- 
ting proportional  bones  for  the  rest  of  the  body." 

6.  The  vast  resources  of  literature  offer  another 
most  profitable  storehouse  of  pulpit  illustration. 
Let  the  preacher  make  his  sermon  the  richer  for 
Macaulay's  vivid  portraits,  and  the  rugged  but 
powerful  outlines  of  Carlyle,  and  the  pathos  of 
Charles  Dickens,  and  the  not  unkindly  home 
thrusts  of  Thackeray.  Let  him  profit  by  the  har- 
vest of  the  quiet  eye  in  many  of  Wordsworth's 
single  lines,  the  rare  felicity  of  Tennyson's  epi- 
thets, the  noble  suggestion  of  Browning's  "  Saul," 
the  glowing  imagery  of  John  Ruskin,  and  by  the 
often  profound  reflections  of  George  Eliot,  **who 
has  perhaps  influenced  preachers  more  than  any 
other  novelist." 

Illustrations  which  are  taken  from  such  a  book 
as  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  from  well-known  biogra- 
phies, or  from  the  best  literature  of  the  mission 
field,  are  often  most  effective.  Into  the  inter- 
leaved Bible  may  be  gathered  apt  and  unusual  poet- 
ical quotations ;  and  as  a  general  observation  it 
may  be  said  that  the  great  poets  of  our  own  lan- 
guage, in  whose  works  so  many  of  the  orators  of 
our  country  have  found  strength  and  stimulus, 
should  be  the  friends  and  companions  of  our 
preachers  also. 

7.  The  time  has  now  come  when  science  can 
be  acknowledged  as   a   most  powerful  ally  of  re- 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      28 1 

ligion.  Even  a  cursory  acquaintance  with  the  dis- 
coveries and  inventions  which  have  made  our  cen- 
tury so  memorable  will  enrich  the  preacher's  store 
of  illustrations.  Dr.  Chalmers'  "Astronomical 
Discourses  "  set  an  example  which  the  pulpit  has 
been  very  slow  to  follow,  of  compelling  the  fairy 
tales  of  science  to  utter  forth  God  ;  but  probably 
ignorance  more  than  prejudice  is  responsible  for 
the  neglect  of  one  of  the  most  affluent  sources  of 
pulpit  illustration.  Such  ignorance  is  no  longer 
pardonable.  Suggestions  and  similes  taken  from 
science  are  available  to  any  one  who  will  observe 
the  phenomena  about  him.  It  is  due  not  to  the 
pulpit  alone  or  chiefly,  but  rather  to  him  who  is 
alike  the  subject  of  its  message  and  the  source  of 
its  strength  that  the  preacher  learns  by  careful 
observation  to  echo  David's  burst  of  praise,  "  O 
Lord,  our  Lord  God,  how  excellent  is  thy  name  in 
all  the  earth." 

8.  It  is  time  also  that  our  preachers  made  far 
more  use  than  they  have  hitherto  done  of  art  in  their 
pulpit  work.  "  I  am  preparing  myself,"  wrote 
Prof.  H.  B.  Smith,  ''to  be  a  better  preacher  by  the 
study  of  statuary  and  painting."  Beecher  finds 
in  the  two  pictures  combined  in  Raphael's  Trans- 
figuration "a  figure  of  human  hfe.  Above,  Christ 
often  hovers  in  glorious  light ;  while  below,  the 
devil  is  tearing  the  child."  The  fact  that  in  a 
painter's  studio  he  saw  high-colored  stones  used  by 
the  artist  to  restore  tone  to  his  eyes  when  he  has 
been   working  in  pigments  which   had  insensibly 


282       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

weakened  his  sense  of  color,  suggested  to  the 
same  preacher  the  thought  that  "  every  day  men 
need  to  have  a  sense  of  the  invisible  God ;  to  be 
tuned,  chorded,  borne  up  to  the  ideal  of  a  pure 
and  lofty  life.  The  three  points  of  one  of  the 
last  addresses  which  Professor  Drummond  deliv- 
ered— first,  work;  second,  God;  third,  love," — he 
drew  from  the  pathetic  figures  of  the  peasants 
who  are  seen  resting  on  their  hoes  when  from  the 
village  spire  floats  the  sound  of  the  evening  bell, 
in  Millet's  "Angelus."  Thus  art  becomes  more 
than  art  as  it  aids  the  truth. 

V.  I  conclude  by  offering  some  counsels  as  to 
the  use  of  illustrations. 

I.  Then,  let  me  say,  in  your  sermons  keep  il- 
lustration subordinate  to  thought.  Caligula  was 
mad  enough  at  times,  but  he  was  quite  sane  when 
he  criticised  the  style  of  Seneca  '^  as  sand  without 
lime."  Lord  Bacon  does  well  to  insist  that  "rea- 
sons are  the  pillars  of  discourse,  and  similitudes 
the  windows."  "Invent  first,"  is  the  advice  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  "and  then  embellish." 
Spurgeon  praises  Manton,  the  Puritan,  because  he 
was  "too  intent  upon  telling  his  message  to  think 
about  how  his  sentences  might  be  adorned."  In 
his  plain-spoken  fashion  Lyman  Beecher  counsels, 
"  Never  begin  to  flourish  until  you  have  said  some- 
thing substantial  to  build  upon "  ;  and  to  more 
than  one  writer  is  ascribed  the  happy  maxim,  "  We 
must  never  construct  ornament,  but  only  orna- 
ment construction."     The  reason  for  this  is  appar- 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      283 

ent  if  we  reflect  that  '*  it  is  the  direct  affirmation 
of  fact  that  commands  attention."  ^ 

We  are  not  putting  too  much  emphasis  upon 
this  point  when  we  insist  that  no  amount  of  illus- 
tration will  make  up  for  paucity  of  thought,  or 
even  for  dullness  of  style.  The  jewel  in  the 
swine's  snout  may  degrade  the  jewel,  but  certainly 
it  does  not  attract  admiration  to  its  unlovely  set- 
ting. 

2.  Do  not  illustrate  overmuch.  To  do  this  was 
the  temptation  of  the  Puritans,  of  the  famous 
preachers  of  the  eighteenth  century  (and  espe- 
cially of  Jeremy  Taylor),  and  in  our  own  times  of 
Thomas  Guthrie.  As  a  rule  it  may  be  said  that 
one  good  illustration  is  sufficient  for  each  point, 
and  there  is  danger  in  multiplying  your  similes 
that  you  obscure  or  destroy  that  ''  simplicity  which 
is  essential  to  true  greatness  "  ^  Yet  brief  illus- 
trations following  each  other  rapidly  are  often  ef- 
fective. Spurgeon  drives  home  a  truth  which 
needs  emphatic  enforcement  when  he  says,  "  Cold 
prayers  are  like  arrows  without  heads,  swords 
without  edges,  birds  without  wings  ;  they  pierce 
not,  they  cut  not,  they  fly  not  up  to  heaven. 
Those  prayers  that  have  no  heavenly  fire  in  them 
always  freeze  before  they  reach  as  high  as  heaven ; 
but  fervent  prayer  is  very  prevalent  with  God." 

In  no  case  is  it  wise  to  elaborate  an  illustration 
overmuch.  "Eloquence,"  says  Pascal,  ''is  a  pic- 
ture   of    thought,    and    those   who    after   having 

^  Dr.  Marcus  Dods.  '  William  George  Ward. 


284       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

drawn  a  picture  still  go  on,  make  a  tableau  and 
not  a  likeness."  ^  For  other  and  more  serious  rea- 
sons, because  it  is  harrowing  to  the  feelings,  re- 
pulsive to  good  taste,  and  often  degrading  to  the 
subject  itself,  it  is  eminently  unwise  to  dwell  in 
detail  upon  a  painful  theme.  No  elaboration  can 
add  to  the  solemn  simplicity  of  the  parable  of  the 
rich  man  who  "  being  in  torments  lifted  up  his 
eyes."  ^  The  reticence  of  the  evangelists  in  their 
accounts  of  the  physical  sufferings  of  our  Lord 
should  be  respected  by  the  preacher  when  he  is 
describing  the  crucifixion. 

3.  It  may  seem  almost  a  commonplace  to  ask 
you  to  remember  that  an  illustration  must  illus- 
trate. But  the  young  preacher  is  so  often  be- 
guiled into  building  an  illustration  into  his  sermon 
because  it  is  beautiful  or  impressive  that  the  coun- 
sel is  not  wholly  unnecessary.  There  are  dis- 
courses— and  they  are  not  entirely  from  young 
preachers  either — which  in  the  splendor  and  futil- 
ity of  their  illustrations  recall  only  the 

Rich  windows  that  exclude  the  light, 
And  passages  that  lead  to  nothing. 

For  this  reason  it  is  well  to  apply  your  illustration 
closely  and  with  all  your  force  of  rhetoric.  If  it 
serve  no  better  purpose  than  to  excite  feeling 
which  exhausts  itself  with  no  practical  effect,  an 
illustration  is  a  hindrance  and  not  a  help  to  the 
sermon.     The  appeals  to   the  sympathy  of  your 

iTulloch,  "Life  of  Pascal,"  p.  168.  '^  Luke  16  :  23. 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      285 

hearers  by  pictures  of  suffering,  by  the  pathos  of 
a  wandering  son  and  a  praying  mother,  or  by  the 
harrowing  experiences  of  the  deathbed,  are  of 
Uttle  use,  and  sometimes  they  are  worse  than  use- 
less. "  An  habitual  attention  to  exhibitions  of  fic- 
titious distress  is  in  every  view  calculated  to  check 
our  moral  improvement."  ^ 

4.  I  may  add  that  your  illustration  must  be  appar- 
ent at  once.  It  ought  not  to  need  explanation. 
For  this  reason  it  should  be  taken  by  preference 
from  familiar  scenes  or  circumstances.  Recall  the 
illustrations  which  Jesus  used.     For  him  sufficed 

the  most  every-day  articles  of  food  and  furniture,  the  com- 
monest incidents  of  Hfe,  the  most  ordinary  scenes  and 
sounds  of  nature.  The  hen  and  her  chickens,  the  leaking 
wine-skins  of  the  vintner,  the  burning  of  autumn  weeds, 
the  peasant  woman  patching  the  old  clothes  of  her  hus- 
band or  her  boys,  were  not  too  trivial  to  be  turned  into 
themes  for  divine  instruction  by  the  Lord  of  glory.  Such 
teaching  is  ever  real  and  fresh  and  vivid. — Archdeacon 
Farrar. 

5.  Be  sure  also  that  your  illustrations  are  suita- 
ble. Without  elaborating  them,  take  care  to  make 
them  fit  the  subject  of  the  sermon  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  delivery.  We  cease  to  wonder 
at  the  good  taste  and  appropriateness  which  mark 
John  Bright' s  illustrations  when  we  learn  with  what 
pains  he  prepared  them.^ 

1  Dugald  Stewart. 

2  "  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, "  p.  436.  *'  Life  of  Dr.  James 
Hamilton,"  pp.  140,  141.  See  also  Davies'  "Successful  Preach- 
ers," pp.  107,  328. 


286       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

(i)  Experience  will  teach  you  that  an  illustration 
which  is  good  in  one  place  and  at  one  time  may 
fail  or  positively  offend  when  used  under  different 
circumstances.  Study  your  audience,  their  occu- 
pations and  manner  of  life,  their  places  of  abode, 
training,  and  tastes.  Dr.  John  Ker  wisely  coun- 
sels the  young  preacher :  "  If  you  have  to  choose 
between  the  nightingale  and  the  lark,  by  all  means 
take  the  lark ;  if  you  have  to  choose  between  the 
passion-flower  and  the  daisy,  select  the  daisy;  the 
people  know  the  lark  and  the  daisy,  and  they  love 
them.     They  would  rather  hear  of  some 

Familiar  matter  of  to-day, 

Some  natural  sorrow,  loss,  or  pain, 

That  hath  been  and  may  be  again, 

than  of  'old,  unhappy,  far-off  things,  and  battles 
long  ago.'  " 

(2)  Equally  important  is  it  that  your  illustra- 
tions should  be  suitable  to  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  are  used.  Religion  is  too  severe 
a  matter  to  be  treated  in  a  trivial  or  jesting  spirit. 
Figures  of  speech  may  be  in  place  in  a  platform 
speech  which  are  not  to  be  tolerated  in  the  ser- 
mon. Rowland  Hill  was  often  carried  beyond  the 
bounds  of  pulpit  propriety  by  his  sense  of  humor. 
It  was  lowering  his  subject  to  compare  the  love  of 
our  Lord  to  a  large  round  of  beef,  from  which 
*'  you  may  cut  and  come  again."  No  worthy  pur- 
pose was  served,  even  with  a  coarse  and  illiterate 
crowd  of  hearers,  when  he  said :   ''  You  all  know 


RHETORICAL    ELEMENTS    IN    THE    SERMON      287 

how  difficult  it  is  to  catch  a  pig  by  the  tail :  you 
will  find  it  equally  so  to  catch  the  love  of  our  Lord 
after  backsliding." 

(3)  Another  word  of  warning  may  be  allowed 
here.  Beware  of  inaccuracy  in  your  illustrations. 
Know  of  what  you  are  talking  when  you  take  your 
similes  from  nature  or  science  or  the  occupations 
of  the  men  and  women  to  whom  you  are  speaking. 
It  was  perplexing  to  any  student  of  history  when  a 
Scotch  preacher  waxed  eloquent  over  *'  the  happy 
days  that  Cain  and  Abel  had  spent  in  their  ances- 
tral halls."  A  preacher  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  London  docks  pictured  a  ship  at  sea  when 
wind  and  water  roared  wildly  around  it,  and  not 
content  with  asking,  "  Under  such  circumstances 
what  did  the  captain  do  .!* "  proceeded  to  answer 
his  own  inquiry,  "  Why  keep  close  to  the  land,  to 
be  sure."  This  was  more  than  one  old  sailor  in 
the  congregation  could  stand,  and  he  muttered 
aloud,  "  Why  don't  he  say,  '  Keep  her  nose  to  the 
wind  }  *  "  "  Begging  your  pardon,"  interpolated 
another  old  salt,  by  way  of  correcting  a  mistake 
as  to  the  signal  light  carried  by  ships  into  which  a 
well-known  bishop  had  fallen  when  preaching  on  a 
New  York  pier,  ''  It's  the  green  light  as  hangs  on 
the  starboard  and  the  red  light  to  port,  sir."  The 
elder  in  a  Scottish  parish  made  no  mistake  when, 
being  himself  a  farmer,  he  counseled  his  young 
pastor:  "There's  John  :  now  speak  to  him  on  any 
subject  except  plowing  and  sowing,  for  John  is 
sure  to  remark  your  deficiency  on  these,  which  he 


288  THE    MAKING    OF   THE    SERMON 

perfectly  understands ;  and  if  he  should  detect 
that  you  dinna  ken  about  plowing  and  sowing, 
he'll  no  gie  ye  credit  for  understanding  onything 
else." 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  will  take  the  pains  to 
acquaint  yourself  with  the  daily  life  of  your  con- 
gregation, no  illustrations  will  be  so  sure  to  find 
a  ready  lodgment  in  their  minds  as  those  which 
come  home  to  their  practical  experience.  Edward 
Irving,  it  may  be  remembered,  conquered  the 
prejudices  of  the  infidel  shoemaker  and  won  him 
to  the  church  and  to  Christ  by  ''  kennin'  a'  aboot 
leather." 

6.  Once  more,  I  advise  that  you  make  your 
Study  Bible  the  storehouse  for  your  illustrations. 
If  the  illustration  which  you  desire  to  preserve 
can  be  cut  out,  paste  it  on  the  interleaved  page. 
Where  this  is  not  possible,  copy  the  quotation  in 
full ;  or  else  in  the  margin  opposite  to  the  verse 
which  it  seems  most  aptly  to  illustrate  write  the 
reference  to  the  volume  in  your  library  where  it 
may  be  found.  Thus  in  time  your  own  Bible  will 
become  a  rich  and  increasing  treasury  of  material 
from  which  to  illustrate  your  discourses. 


THE  DELIVERY  OF  THE  SERMON 


SUMMARY 


1.  Important  that  the  Preacher  Should  Take  an  Inde- 
pendent Position. 

1.  The  question  is  constantly  recurring. 

2.  Delivery  has  much  to  do  with  effectiveness. 

3.  Yet  it  is  not  the  prime  essential. 

IL  Considerations   which    may  Assist   the   Preacher  to 
Decide  which   Method  of  Delivery  to   Adopt. 

1.  Temperament  and  constitution. 

2.  Intellectual  characteristicG. 

3.  The  audience  to  be  addressed. 

ixl.  Essentials,  Whichever  Method  is  Adopted. 

I.  Thorough  preparation. 

A.  suitable  pulpit  manner:  (i)  Be  wide  awake  and  alert; 
(2)  Be  natural ;  (3)  Be  in  sympathy  with  your  subject 
and  audience  :  (a)  In  spirit ;  (^)  In  voice  ;  (4)  Be  rev- 
erent;    (5)  Be  self-possessed. 


XIX 

THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON 

I.   It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  every  young 

preacher  should  take  an  independent  position  and 

settle  it  with  himself  in  what  way 

,  1      ^    1  T        1  •  In  General 

he  can  best  deliver  his  sermon. 

1.  The  fact  that  this  question  is  one  which  con- 
stantly recurs,  refusing  to  be  silenced  by  the 
sweeping  assertions  of  the  advocates  of  this  or 
that  method,  or  to  be  settled  by  the  prevailing 
custom  of  hour  or  place  or  church,  may  be  taken 
as  at  any  rate  conclusive  evidence  that  no  one 
way  is  so  evidently  the  best  that  any  alternative 
to  it  is  not  to  be  considered.  Over  against  the 
emphatic  and  comprehensive  counsel  of  one  of  our 
great  preachers,  '*  Burn  all  your  manuscripts  and 
never  write  any  more  to  be  read  in  public,"  we 
may  set  the  opinion  of  another  who  while  holding 
that  the  free  man  is  the  man  of  most  power  to 
impress  and  persuade,  is  yet  persuaded  that  ''  so 
long  as  men  differ  in  aptitude  and  temperament 
so  long  ought  there  to  be  room  for  variety  in 
method." 

2.  No  one  will  question  that  the  way  in  which 
a  sermon  is  delivered  has  very  much  to  do  with  its 
effectiveness.     Was  not  St.  Francis  de  Sales  right 

291 


292  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

in  saying,  '*  You  may  utter  volumes,  and  if  you  do 
not  utter  them  well  it  is  lost  labor.  Speak  but 
little  and  that  well,  and  you  may  effect  much  "  ? 
John  Foster  was  extremely  fastidious  in  his  choice 
of  words  and  in  the  structure  of  his  sentences; 
and  no  man  of  his  generation  was  his  superior  in 
originality  of  thought.  He  insisted  that  the  effect 
of  the  sermon  should  depend  upon  these  things 
alone.  Delivery  he  professed  to  despise.  Conse- 
quently he  failed  as  a  preacher.  Who  can  wonder, 
indeed,  when  we  learn  from  William  Jay  that 

His  delivery  all  through  was  in  a  low  and  equable 
voice,  with  a  kind  of  surly  tone  and  frequent  repetition  of  a 
word  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence.  He  had  a  little  fierce- 
ness occasionally  in  his  eye,  otherwise  his  face  was  set  and 
his  arms  perfectly  motionless  ? 

The  wit  spoke  not  for  one  preacher  but  for  many 
when  he  observed,  on  hearing  that  the  sermons  of 
a  popular  orator  were  to  be  published,  ''They  ought 
to  print  the  preacher,  for  the  principal  merit  of  his 
sermons  is  his  delivery." 

Many  a  good  sermon  is  wrecked  on  the  reef  of 
a  poor  delivery ;  and  many  a  very  ordinary  sermon 
is  saved  by  learning  to  avoid  it.  As  the  best  laws 
are  said  to  be  those  which  are  best  administered, 
so  we  are  tempted  to  think  that  the  best  sermons 
are  those  which  are  best  delivered. 

With  preaching  (so  Doctor  Guthrie  put  it),  it  is  as  with 
firing  a  gun,  the  manner  is  the  powder,  the  matter  is  the 
shot ;  and  it  is  well-known  that  a  tallow  candle  with  a  suffi- 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  293 

cient  quantity  of  powder  will  go  through  a  deal  board  that 
a  leaden  bullet  would  not  pierce  fired  off  with  a  feeble 
charge. 

3.  And  yet  we  would  not  convey  the  impres- 
sion that  the  method  of  delivery  employed  is  by 
any  means  the  prime  essential  to  successful  preach- 
ing. No,  the  method  is  secondary  to  the  matter ; 
as  both  method  and  matter  are  secondary  to  the 
man.  However  he  may  preach,  the  true  man,  if 
he  has  a  message  from  God,  will  make  himself 
heard.  The  man ;  the  matter  ;  the  method  ;  this 
is  the  right  order. 

II.  In  deciding  which  method  of  delivery  you 
will  adopt,  there  are  many  things  to  be  considered. 
There  may  be  good  reasons  why  in  certain  cases 
some  one  is  quite  clearly  the  best. 

1.  Much  will  depend,  for  instance,  upon  temper- 
ament and  constitution.  ''  The  lowest  quality  of 
the  art  of  oratory,"  it  has  been  said,  "and  yet  on 
many  occasions  of  the  first  importance,  is  a  certain 
robust  and  radiant  physical  health  ;  great  volumes 
of  animal  heat.  In  the  cold  thinness  of  a  morning 
audience,  mere  energy  and  mellowness  is  inestim- 
able ;  wisdom  and  learning  would  be  harsh  and 
unwelcome  compared  with  a  substantial  man,  who 
is  quite  house-warming."^ 

2.  Then  again,  the  intellectual  characteristics 
of  a  preacher  may  be  such  as  to  decide  him  in  his 
choice  of  a  method  of  delivery.  The  man  whose 
mind  is  lacking  in  order  and  arrangement  should 

^  G.  J.  Holyoake. 


294       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

certainly  avoid  the  shallows  of  a  purely  extempo- 
raneous habit ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  he  whose 
mind  is  naturally  j^recise  and  logical  may  well 
learn  how  to  speak  without  a  manuscript. 

3.  To  some  extent,  also,  the  character  of  the 
audience  to  be  addressed  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count. A  congregation  used  to  extemporaneous 
speech  may  fret  under  the  trammels  of  paper ;  a 
congregation  accustomed  to  hear  the  sermon  read 
may  not  at  once  estimate  at  its  true  worth  the 
sermon  which,  while  conscientiously  prepared  be- 
forehand, is  preached  without  notes. 

III.  We  may  settle  it  at  once  that  whichever 
method  of  delivery  a  preacher  takes  as  his  own, 
there  are  certain  essentials  which  ought  always  to 
distinguish  his  sermon  work. 

I.  First  among  these  we  mention  thorough 
preparation.  With  more  or  less  of  fullness  the 
whole  service  should  be  rehearsed  in  anticipation 
of  public  worship.  The  sermon  itself  should  be 
so  completely  mastered  that  just  as  in  a  good 
equestrian  statue  man  and  horse  are  one,  so  the 
preacher  and  his  discourse  are  inseparable.  The 
sermon  has  become  a  part  of  himself.  There  has 
been  no  readier  preacher  in  our  century  than 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  and  yet  in  his  diary  more  than 
once  occurs  the  entry,  **  Very  nervous  because 
sermon  was  unprepared."  Such  nervousness  may 
be  a  means  of  grace  to  the  preacher  who  is 
tempted  to  rely  on  that  treacherous  stimulus 
which  is  known  as  "the  spur  of  the  moment." 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  295 

2.  Further,  we  must  insist  upon  suitable  pulpit 
manner. 

(1)  Be  fully  alive,  wide  awake,  and  alert.  Pay 
just  so  much  attention  to  health  as  will  ensure 
your  forgetting  all  about  it. 

(2)  Use  and  practice  should  teach  you  to  be 
perfectly  natural,  and  to  keep  clear  of  any  suspi- 
cion of  ministerial  professionalism.  Insincerity  of 
voice  and  affectation  in  manner  carry  their  own 
punishment.  An  audience  grows  weary  of  them 
and  of  him  who  stoops  to  employ  them.  "  I  have 
sometimes  thought,"  Emerson  once  said,  ''that  in 
order  to  be  a  good  minister  it  was  necessary  to 
leave  the  ministry.  The  profession  is  antiquated. 
In  an  altered  age  we  worship  in  the  dead  forms 
of  our  forefathers." 

(3)  To  be  in  sympathy  alike  with  your  subject 
and  your  audience  is  another  essential.  It  was 
because  Whitefield  felt  the  future  in  the  present 
that  he  preached  as  he  did.  His  sermons  owed 
so  much  to  his  personality  that  as  we  have  them 
reported  they  fail  to  explain  the  immense  effect 
which  they  produced  on  his  hearers.  Remember 
South's  noble  words :  "  In  this  great  work  the 
trembling  hand  is  still  the  steadiest ;  and  the  fear- 
ful heart  the  most  likely  to  be  victorious."  •  Elo- 
quence is  logic  touched  by  emotion,  and  therefore 
feeling  is  to  the  full  as  necessary  as  thought. 
His  sermon  was  likely  to  be  effective  when 
Thomas  Fuller  could  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  his 
Master  and  say  :   '*  I  have  steeped  this  in  tears, 


296  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

Lord  :  I  once  offered  it  dry ;  now  I  offer  it  wet." 
Fletcher,  of  Madeley,  the  saint  of  early  Methodism, 
while  preaching  seemed  to  one  who  listened  to 
him  an  angel  in  human  form  rather  than  a  mortal 
man  dwelling  in  a  house  of  clay.  A  plain  coun- 
tryman going  to  hear  Robert  Murray  McCheyne 
found  himself  sorely  affected  even  before  the 
preacher  opened  his  lips.  When  John  Summer- 
field,  the  young  Methodist  preacher  who  died  on 
the  threshold  of  his  earthly  ministry,  became  ani- 
mated, "  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  breathings  of  the 
Spirit  were  upon  him."  It  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate too  highly  the  power  of  a  sympathy  which 
draws  its  strength  not  from  transient  emotion  so 
much  as  from  the  minister's  conviction  that  in 
public  worship  he  stands  in  the  pulpit  in  behalf  of 
Christ  to  beseech  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 
The  spirit  as  much  as  the  words  of  such  a  preacher, 
his  manner  as  much  as  his  message,  carries  a  sub- 
duing power.  What  Vinet  said  of  another,  and 
what  was  eminently  true  of  himself,  is  what  we 
should  all  desire  to  have  true  of  ourselves,  "  His 
manner  of  preaching  did  more  than  confute 
doubts,  it  absorbed  them."  Nor,  in  dealing  with 
this  subject  of  pulpit  manner,  should  we  omit  all 
mention  of  minor  matters,  inferior  indeed  in  im- 
portance to  this  power  of  sympathy,  and  yet  well 
worthy  of  our  consideration.  The  preacher's  man- 
ner should  be  appropriate.  It  should  be  in  keep- 
ing with  the  particular  part  of  the  service  which 
he  is  conducting.     Avoid  the   monotony  of  tone 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  297 

which  makes  you  uniformly  employ  the  same  key, 
whether  in  announcing  a  hymn,  reading  the  Bible, 
engaging  in  prayer,  or  delivering  the  sermon.  Do 
not  give  notice  of  a  Sunday-school  picnic  with  the 
same  impressiveness  of  manner  and  emphasis  with 
which  you  invite  the  congregation  to  pray.  Even 
in  preaching  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  each  sub- 
ject of  which  you  treat  must  have  its  appropriate 
manner,  tone,  and  spirit. 

"Always,"  is  Spurgeon's  counsel  to  his  stu- 
dents, ''suit  your  voice  to  your  matter,  and  above 
all,  in  everything  be  natural."  To  the  same  effect 
he  says  elsewhere :  "  Vary  the  tone  of  your  voice 
often;  be  like  the  weather,  have  sun,  sleet,  rain, 
then  dry  up;  anything  but  fog."  ^ 

(4)  If  you  are  in  sympathy  with  your  theme 
and  with  your  hearers  this  will  ensure  another 
essential  to  which  I  will  refer  :  I  mean  reverence. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  first  impression  which  the 
minister  makes  may  affect  the  influence  which  he 
exerts  on  his  congregation  in  higher  matters,  and 
almost  decide  not  his  fate  alone — which  is  of  less 
consequence — but  the  fate  of  his  message.  The 
secular  air  is  scarcely  less  offensive  than  is  the 
opposite  extreme  of  sanctimoniousness.  In  our 
resolve  to  avoid  the  one  we  should  be  on  our 
guard  lest  we  fall  into  the  other.  Our  protest 
against  sacerdotalism,  ritual,  and  superstition  must 
not  be  suffered  to  weaken  the  reasonable  and 
seemly  reverence  with  which  we  should  perform 
our  work.     The  church  is  a  building  set  apart  for 


298  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

sacred  uses  ;  the  pulpit  is  not  a  secular  platform  ; 
the  Bible  is  like  no  other  book;  and  worship  is  a 
peculiar  act. 

The  observed  of  all  observers,  the  minister 
needs  to  pay  some  attention  to  such  secondary 
matters  as  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  the 
posture  which  he  assumes  in  repose,  and  his 
guarded  behavior  while  conducting  the  service. 
Garrick,  who  whispered  to  his  companion  when 
they  were  hearing  Whitefield,  "  I'd  give  all  the 
money  of  a  benefit-night  could  I  handle  my  hand- 
kerchief as  that  fellow  does,"  once  criticised  a 
clergyman  who  had  none  of  Whitefield's  grace  of 
manner  after  this  practical  fashion : 

"What  particular  business  had  you  to  do,"  he  inquired 
of  the  offending  minister,   "when  the  duty  was  over?" 

"None,"  said  the  other. 

"I  thought  you  had,  on  seeing  you  enter  the  reading 
desk  in  such  a  hurry.  Nothing  can  be  more  indecent  than 
to  see  a  clergyman  set  about  sacred  business  as  if  he  were 
a  tradesman,  and  go  into  church  as  if  he  wanted  to  get  out 
of  it  as  soon  as  possible.  What  books  were  those  which 
you  had  before  you  ? ' ' 

"Only  the  Bible  and  Prayer  Book." 

"'Only  the  Bible  and  Prayer  Book.'  Why  you  tossed 
them  backward  and  forward,  turned  the  leaves  as  care- 
lessly as  if  they  were  those  of  a  day-book  and  ledger." 

Charles  Dickens  in  his  description  of  a  sermon 
to  which  he  listened  in  a  theatre  in  the  East  End 
of  London  says,  that  while  nothing  could  be  bet- 
ter than  the  large  Christianity  of  the  preacher's 
general  tone,  yet  it  did  some  violence  to  his  own 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  299 

spirit  of  reverence  "to  see  the  Bible  held  out  at 
arm's  length  at  frequent  intervals,  and  soundingly 
slapped  like  a  slow  lot  at  a  sale."  Such  criticisms 
as  these  are  valuable  because  they  help  us  to  see 
ourselves  as  others  see  us,  and  because  they  give 
expression  to  the  feelings  of  many  in  our  congre- 
gations who  nevertheless  submit  to  offenses 
against  good  taste  and  even  reverence  without 
remonstrance.  They  are  convinced  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  their  pastor  and  are  benefited  by  his  min- 
istrations, but  did  they  care  to  speak  they  might 
in  all  frankness  employ  Caesar's  words  about  Mark 

Antony : 

I  do  not  much 
Dislike  the  matter,  but  the  manner  of  his  speech. 

(5)  It  may  be  well  to  add  that  in  the  delivery 
of  the  sermon  the  preacher  should  aim  to  be  self- 
possessed  and  calm.  In  the  early  part  of  his  dis- 
course he  may  occasionally  pause  with  advantage. 
It  is  the  practised  speaker  who  understands  and 
employs  the  eloquence  of  the  pause ;  in  our  first 
efforts  we  very  likely  dread  the  silence  which  may 
be  felt,  and  fear  lest  to  ourselves  and  to  others  it 
may  suggest  that  it  is  the  speechlessness  of  ex- 
haustion rather  than  of  self-command.  It  is  still 
uncertain  whether  Doctor  Chalmers  employed  his 
usual  urbanity  when  he  said  to  a  young  preacher  : 
"  I  like  your  sermon ;  you  will  make  a  good 
preacher  ;  the  pauses  especially  were  magnifi- 
cent." However  this  may  have  been,  there  can 
be  no  question  that  whether  his  speaking  rate  be 


300       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

slow  or  rapid,  whether  he  drive  his  sentences 
with  tireless  speed  from  the  first  to  the  final  word, 
or  checks  his  rhetoric  now  and  again  to  give  his 
hearers  time  to  rest  and  reflect,  the  preacher 
should  never  lose  that  measure  of  self-possession 
which  is  essential  to  effective  speech.  In  the 
passages  which  are  concerned  only  with  calm  state- 
ment, in  those  parts  which  are  devoted  to  tracing 
the  logical  sequence  of  a  train  of  thought,  and 
even  when  climbing  to  the  height  of  his  great 
argument,  he  reasons  of  righteousness  and  judg- 
ment to  come,  the  pulpit  orator  should  aim  to  re- 
semble the  river — 

Though  deep,  yet  clear  ;  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull ; 
Strong  without  rage  ;  without  o'  erflowing,  full. 


THE  DELIVERY  OF  THE  SERMON 

— Continued 


SUMMARY 


I.  Does  not  Carry  the  Weight  and  Authority  of  Scrip- 

ture. 

II.  Has  few  Historical  Precedents  to  which  it  can  Ap- 
peal. 

III.  Is  Philosophically  Objectionable. 

1.  Produces  a  sense  of  separation  and  distance. 

2.  A  sense  of  unreality  follows. 

IV.  Has  no  Rhetorical  Parallels.     Gesture  and  Expres- 
sion Suffer. 

V.  Is  Untrue  to  the  Ideal  of  Preaching. 

VI.  Yet  there  may  be  Reasons  for  Adopting  it. 

1.  In  the  preacher  himself :   (i)   May  lack  the  oratorical  tem- 

perament ;   (2)   May  be  over-fluent. 

2.  In  the  theme  of  the  sermon. 

3.  In  the  character  of  the  exercise. 

VII.  Counsels  if  this  Method  be  Adopted. 

1.  Cultivate  a  style  suitable  to  spoken  discourse. 

2.  Pay  much  attention  to  composition. 

3.  Master  the  manuscript. 

4.  Read  well. 

Summary  and  Conclusion. 

Note — As  to  the  memorized  sermon  : 

Of  two  kinds.  Great  names  no  reason  for  our  adopting 
this  method.  What  can  be  said  in  its  favor?  Open  to 
serious  objections.  Of  all  methods,  the  least  to  be  recom- 
mended. 


XX 

THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  (CONTINUED) 

In    considering    the  various   ways    in    which  a 
sermon  may  be  delivered,  we  deal,  first,  with  the 
practice    of    reading  from   a  manu-     mx,    -r     ^i 
script.       This    method    presupposes       sermon 
that  the  sermon  has  been  carefully 
written,  and  that  it  is  carefully  read.     What  can 
be  said  about  it,  for  and  against .? 

I.  That  it  does  not  carry  the  weight  and  author- 
ity of  Scripture  sanction  may  be  granted  at  once. 
The  conception  of  the  sermon  as  we  have  it  now, 
dates  from  a  period  so  much  later  than  the  last 
words  of  the  New  Testament,  that  we  must  not  be 
surprised  at  this ;  nor  must  we  sweepingly  con- 
demn the  read  discourse  because  when  Elijah 
burst  in  on  Ahab  with  his  brief  message,  or  Jonah 
went  through  the  streets  of  Nineveh  announcing 
its  impending  doom,  or  John  the  Baptist  cried  in 
the  wilderness  of  Judea,  or  Jesus  taught  by  the 
waters  of  Galilee,  or  Peter  rang  out  his  first  ser- 
mon in  Jerusalem,  or  Paul  spoke  to  the  men  of 
Athens  on  Mars  Hill,  no  manuscript  was  used. 
Under  similar  circumstances  to-day  no  manuscript 
would  be  used.  Yet  it  is  certainly  worthy  of  our 
consideration  that  nowhere  in  the  Bible  is  it  re- 

303 


304  THE    MAKING    OF    THE   SERMON 

corded  that  a  discourse  was  read  ;  and  that  when 
the  apostles  received  their  commission  to  go  and 
teach  all  nations,  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was 
in  the  mind  of  Him  in  whose  name  through  all  the 
ages  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached,  that  this  should  be  done  by  means  of  a 
read  sermon. 

II.  The  habit  of  reading  a  sermon  has  few  his- 
torical precedents  to  which  it  can  appeal.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  it  was  practised  by  the  orators 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  The  early  church  seems  to 
have  known  nothing  of  it.  **A11  the  examples  of 
Christian  antiquity  are  against  the  practice  of  the 
reading  of  written  sermons.  Neither  Basil  nor 
Chrysostom,  neither  Augustine,  nor  Luther,  nor 
Calvin,  nor  their  contemporaries,  read  their  dis- 
courses." ^  The  custom  probably  dates  from  the 
days  of  conflict  between  the  friars  and  the  early 
Protestant  Reformers,  when  feeling  ran  so  high 
that  royal  authority  had  to  be  appealed  to  in  order 
to  curb  the  excesses  of  controversial  speech.  It 
is  certain  that  in  1548  Calvin  wrote  to  Protector 
Somerset,  of  England,  insisting  that  lively  preach- 
ing was  much  needed,  and  adds :  '*  I  say  this,  sire, 
because  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  little  of 
preaching  in  the  kingdom,  but  that  sermons  are 
for  the  most  part  read."  In  earlier  and  darker 
days  books  of  homilies  had  been  compiled  to  be 
read  in  churches  when  the  priest  was  unable  to 
make  sermons  for  himself;  and  the  homilies,  which 

*  Qoc\[xtxt\y^^  Observations  pratiques  sur  la  PridicatioTty^*  p.  175. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  305 

were  prepared  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  were 
prepared  partly  that  they  might  be  read  to  the 
people  by  such  as  were  not  licensed  to  preach,  and 
partly  in  order  to  secure  uniformity  of  doctrine  at 
a  time  when  there  was  so  much  difference  of  opin- 
ion on  the  part  of  the  clergy.  Charles  II.,  who 
had  probably  learned  to  admire  the  freedom  of  the 
continental  preachers,  issued  an  ordinance  against 
"  the  present  supine  and  slothful  way  of  preach- 
ing," and  made  the  reading  of  sermons  almost  an 
act  of  treason  by  declaring  that  the  practice  ^'took 
its  beginning  from  the  disorders  of  the  late  times." 
That  the  Puritans  should  read  their  sermons  was 
almost  inevitable.^  The  inordinate  length,  the 
tedious  multiplying  of  subdivisions,  as  well  as  the 
careful  doctrinal  definitions  which  characterized 
them,  must  have  almost  obliged  the  use  of  a  manu- 
script. Yet  even  among  them  there  was  a  strong 
difference  of  opinion  on  this  matter,  and  John  Cot- 
ton, who  in  two  days  could  preach  three  sermons 
six  hours  long,  stoutly  maintained  that  "reading 
was  not  preaching."  ^  No  doubt  it  was  through 
the  Puritans  that  the  practice  of  reading  sermons 
came  into  New  England.  Neither  in  Great  Brit- 
ain nor  in  America  has  it  been  the  method  of  the 
majority  of  useful  and  successful  preachers.  If 
the  great  name  of  Thomas  Chalmers  be  appealed 
to  in  its  defense,  it  is  sufficient  to  answer  that  he 

1  W.  M.  Taylor,  D.  D.,  "The  Scottish  Pulpit,"  pp.  248,  249. 
*  John  Brown,  D.  D.,  "The  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England," 

p.3iO- 

U 


306       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

who  can  read  as  Chalmers  did — in  tones  of  en- 
thusiasm that  made  the  rafters  roar,  hanging  over 
his  audience,  menacing  them  with  his  shaking  fist 
or  standing  erect,  manacled  and  staring — can  be 
suffered  to  do  as  he  pleases.  And  if  reference  be 
made  to  Jonathan  Edwards,  it  may  further  be  af- 
firmed that  even  when  he  was  preaching  his  great 
sermons  he  did  not  always  read,  and  that  in  his 
later  years  he  abandoned  the  manuscript  alto- 
gether.^ What  is  remarkable,  the  preachers  who 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  reading  have  not,  as  a 
rule,  preferred  the  method  ;  and  treatises  on  homi- 
letics,  written  by  those  who  in  the  pulpit  are  slaves 
to  the  paper,  have  rather  commended  extempo- 
raneous preaching.  ''  Henceforth,"  Chalmers  wrote 
in  his  journal  after  hearing  Andrew  Fuller  preach, 
''let  me  try  to  extemporize  in  the  pulpit."  "I 
heard,"  says  C.  G.  Finney,  "  a  theological  teacher 
read  a  sermon  on  the  importance  of  extempo^ 
raneous  preaching.  His  views  on  the  subject 
were  correct,  but  his  practice  entirely  contradicted 
them."  2 

HI.  That  the  sermon  should  be  read  is,  further, 
philosophically  objectionable.  Between  the  speaker 
and  hearer  it  interposes  a  paper  which,  except  in 
very  rare  cases,  such  as  that  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  pro- 
duces two  evils. 

I.   A    sense  of    separation    and    distance.     Mr. 

^  Allen,  "Life  of  Edwards,"  p.  41. 

^  Cf.  "  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  Dr.  Dale,  p.  163  ;  Phillips 
Brooks,  p.  171  ;  W.  M.  Taylor,  d.  d.,  "Scottish  Pulpit,"  p.  232. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF   THE   SERMON  307 

Blaine  told  a  company  of  ministers  at  the  Congre- 
gational Club  in  Boston,  that  when  they  put  the 
nonconductor  of  a  pile  of  manuscript  between 
themselves  and  their  hearers,  they  were  not 
preaching  the  gospel,  *'you  are  only  reading  it." 
Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs  abandoned  his  written  sermon 
when  he  had  to  address  the  throngs  in  the  Academy 
of  Music,  Brooklyn,  for  this  same  reason.  **  In- 
serting a  manuscript  between  the  audience  and 
myself  would  have  been  like  cutting  the  telegraph 
wires  and  putting  a  sheet  of  paper  into  the  gap."  ^ 
2.  A  sense  of  unreality  naturally  follows  this  sense 
of  separation  and  distance.  The  conviction  that 
the  message  is  with  authority,  which  is  absolutely 
necessary  alike  with  preacher  and  hearers  if  the 
sermon  is  to  do  its  best  work,  is  very  faint,  and 
often,  indeed,  it  is  absent  altogether  unless  the 
speaker  is  in  close,  conscious  touch  with  his  con- 
gregation. Rowland  Hill  had  reason  to  gibe  at 
the  impotence  of  <*  dried  tongues."  Many  will 
agree  with  Spurgeon  when  he  says,  "  The  best 
reading  I  have  ever  heard  has  tasted  of  paper,  and 
has  stuck  in  my  throat,"  and  the  conclusion  of  Dr. 
Joseph  Parker  is  still  more  worthy  of  being  laid 
to  heart  by  every  preacher :  "  Having  tried  both 
methods,  the  method  of  free  speech  and  the  method 
of  reading,  I  can  give  an  opinion  founded  upon 
experience,  and  I  now  give  it  as  entirely  favorable 
to  free   speech.     The  pulpit  will  never  take  its 

^  "Preaching  Without  Notes,"  p.  34.     See  also   "Our  Ser- 
mons," R.  Gee,  p.  235. 


308       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

proper  place  until  the  habit  of  reading  sermons 
on  ordinary  occasions  is  entirely  abandoned  ;  it  is 
official,  pedantic,  heartless,  and  ought  to  be  put 
down." 

IV.  Let  it  be  remembered  again  that  the  prac- 
tice of  reading  in  the  pulpit  has  no  rhetorical 
parallel.  The  lawyer  in  court,  the  political  speaker 
on  the  platform,  the  actor  on  the  stage,  do  not 
read.  "The  practice  of  reading  sermons"  Blair 
considered  to  be  ''one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to 
eloquence."  "  Elocutionists  may  read,"  a  Southern 
preacher  says,  "but  orators  never."  Of  what  in- 
valuable allies  in  effective  speaking  the  habit  of 
reading  deprives  a  preacher.  Gesture  is  crippled 
and  contracted,  and  becomes  tame  and  monoto- 
nous. The  perfection  of  the  art  of  gesture  among 
the  Italians  and  other  nations  which  naturally 
possess  it  in  fuller  measure  than  do  we,  can  make 
even  "their  legs  the  emblems  of  their  various 
thought."  To  this  extreme  we  may  not  wish  to 
go,  but  still  less  can  we  hold  with  Dr.  Samuel  John- 
son that  "  action  can  have  no  effect  upon  reason- 
able minds  "  ;  and  that  "  in  proportion  as  men  are 
removed  from  brutes,  action  will  have  less  influ- 
ence on  them."  Then  again,  the  facial  expression 
of  the  preacher  who  reads  his  sermons  is  almost 
wholly  if  not  entirely  lost.  The  lips,  which  should 
never  be  concealed  by  the  mustache,  the  pose  of 
the  head,  the  varied  expression  of  the  eye,  can 
now  do  little.  The  eye  is  a  most  powerful  aux- 
iliary to  the  voice.      Our  Lord  and  his  apostles 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  309 

used  it  for  this  purpose.  Why  should  we  forfeit 
a  faculty  which  comes  to  us  sanctioned  by  such 
high  uses?  John  McNeill  is  justified  in  calling 
the  attention  of  his  hearers  to  the  phrase,  ''  Peter 
fastening  his  eyes  upon  him,  with  John,"  and  re- 
minding them  that  ''  this  could  not  have  been  done 
if  they  had  read  their  little  sermon.  That  ex- 
change of  looks  may  have  decided  the  man  to  ac- 
cept the  muscular  arm  of  the  fisherman  apostle. 
Is  not  this  a  lesson  to  preachers .''  They  cannot 
fasten  their  eyes  both  on  the  audience  and  '  the 
paper.'  "  This  power  of  the  eye  has  always  been 
great  in  secular  oratory ;  why  shall  it  be  less  so  in 
the  case  of  those  who  occupy  the  throne  of  elo- 
quence, the  pulpit  ?  By  his  opponents  the  glance 
of  William  Pitt  was  as  much  dreaded  as  was  his 
voice.  Robespierre,  it  has  been  truly  said,  could 
quell  the  French  Assembly  by  his  lion  eye  ;  while 
that  of  Daniel  Webster  was  a  gateway  out  of  which 
marched  conquest.  Dr.  Thomas  Guthrie  held 
that  the  objection  to  **the  paper  lay  deep  in  the 
feelings  of  our  nature."  These  are  his  words 
about  reading  a  sermon,  and  they  well  deserve  to 
be  heeded  :  *'  It  universally  produces  more  or  less 
of  monotony,  so  much  of  it  as  to  act  like  mes- 
merism on  the  audience.  To  keep  an  audience 
wide  awake,  their  attention  active  and  on  stretch 
(without  which,  how  are  they  to  get  good  ?),  all  the 
natural  varieties  of  tone  and  action  are  necessary 
— qualifications  incompatible  with  the  practice  of 
reading." 


3IO       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

V.  Assuredly  to  adopt  the  habit  of  reading  the 
sermon  is  to  be  untrue  to  the  ideal  of  preaching. 
The  sermon  is  a  familiar  talk,  dignified  and  yet 
easy,  on  the  highest  of  all  themes.  It  aims  to 
produce  immediate  results,  and  consequently  in 
times  of  quickened  religious  feeling  the  addresses 
are  almost  without  exception  spoken,  not  read. 
The  American  audiences  of  the  last  century,  ac- 
customed to  a  ministry  addicted  to  closely  written 
manuscripts  held  in  the  hand  and  often  near  to 
the  eyes,  were  stirred  to  a  passion  of  enthusiasm 
by  the  preaching  of  Whitefield,  ''  who  seemed  to 
pour  forth  his  torrent  of  apparently  unpremeditated 
eloquence  without  fatigue  or  study."  ^  To  White- 
field  the  gathering  thunderstorm,  which  would  have 
obliterated  the  manuscript,  was  only  another  power 
to  be  pressed  into  the  service.  He  invoked  the 
tempest  and  wielded  the  lightning  with  such  tre- 
mendous power  that  men  and  women  fell  under 
the  power  of  words  which  were  emphasized  by 
the  fires  of  heaven.  To  sum  up :  The  preacher 
may  very  well  hesitate  before  deliberately  choosing 
a  method  of  delivery  which  has  no  authority  in 
Scripture,  and  scarcely  a  precedent  in  the  great 
days  of  the  pulpit ;  for  which  no  parallel  can  be 
found  in  other  fields  of  oratory;  and  which  tends 
to  arrest  the  power  of  sympathy  between  him  and 
his  hearers,  to  weaken  the  sermon  in  its  appointed 
mission  to  produce  immediately  an  impression,  and 

^  G.  S.  Walker,  D.  D.,  "Some  Aspects  of  the  Religious  Life  of 
New  England,"  p.  92. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  3  I  I 

to  deny  to  the  speaker  the  aid  of  passing  incidents 
which  may  be  arrows  of  conviction  in  the  hands 
of  the  Lord. 

VI.  Notwithstanding  these  serious  objections 
to  reading,  there  may  yet  seem  to  be  reasons  why 
in  certain  cases  it  shoidd  be  adopted.  At  these 
we  will  now  glance. 

I.  Some  of  them  may  be  found  in  the  preacher 
himself. 

(i)  It  is  possible  that  he  may  lack  the  ora- 
torical temperament.  With  Bourdaloue  he  may 
not  dare  look  his  audience  in  the  face ;  with  Car- 
dinal Newman  his  felicity  of  diction  may  fail  him 
when  he  drops  his  pen.  In  such  a  case  Spurgeon's 
counsel,  "  Brother,  write  if  you  have  not  the  gift 
of  free  speech,  and  yet  are  fitted  to  instruct," 
will  be  seasonable.  Nor  should  it  be  denied  that 
the  preacher  who  dispenses  with  a  manuscript  will 
have  to  suffer  for  it.  The  perfect  self-control  of 
so  practised  a  preacher  as  John  Angell  James,  of 
Birmingham,  England,  gave  no  hint  of  the  fact,^ 
to  which  his  biographer  testifies,  that  for  many 
years  he  scarcely  ever  slept  on  a  Saturday  night, 
so  uncontrollable  was  the  apprehension  with  which 
he  looked  forward  to  the  services  of  the  Sunday. 
''  Why  shouldn't  I  read  ?"  he  asked  of  his  colleague 
when  he  was  anticipating  having  to  deliver  a  sermon 
before  the  London  Missionary  Society.  "  Because 
you  are  never  so  effective  when  you  read,"  was  the 
reply.     "Well,  now,"    Mr.  James  answered,   "I'll 

1  "Life  and  Letters  of  J.  A.  James,"  by  R.  W.  Dale,  p.  275. 


312  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

tell  you  how  it  is.  If  I  preach  without  reading  I 
shall  be  miserable  for  three  weeks,  miserable  till  I 
am  in  the  pulpit ;  if  I  read,  I  shall  be  quite  happy 
till  I  begin  to  preach,  though  I  shall  be  miserable 
till  I  finish."^  It  is  sufficient  to  say  on  this  point 
that  immunity  from  suffering  is  not  essential  to  a 
preacher's  work,  and  that  although  in  his  resolve 
to  speak  without  a  manuscript  he  may  have  to 
work  hard  during  the  week,  to  rise  early  on  Sun- 
day morning,  and  to  endure  the  pangs  of  anticipa- 
tion and  the  penalties  of  reaction,  yet  he  will  be 
in  the  end  stronger  and  more  efficient  for  the 
effort.  The  cases  are  probably  rare  in  which  by 
determination  and  perseverance  even  the  most 
diffident  of  preachers  cannot  dispense  with  his 
paper,  and  benefit  alike  himself  and  congregation 
by  doing  so. 

(2)  On  the  other  hand,  are  there  not  preachers 
who  by  reason  of  a  dangerous  fluency  of  speech 
would  do  well  to  write  and  sometimes  to  read.-* 
Dr.  Dale,  to  whom  reference  has  just  been  made, 
explained  his  invariable  habit  of  reading  in  this 
way :  "  If  I  spoke  extemporaneously  I  should  never 
sit  down."  To  Mr.  Binney,  at  one  time  the  most 
popular  preacher  in  London,  an  old  Scotchwoman 
frankly  said :  "  I  am  aye  glad  to  see  the  papers, 
for  when  ye  take  them  oot  and  lay  them  on  the 
bulk,  I  say  to  mysel',  'We'll  ha'e  a  deal  mair  sense 
the  day.'" 

2.   The  theme  of  the  sermon,  again,  may  seem 

1  R.  W.  Dale,  "Yale  Lectures,"  pp.  156,  157. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  313 

to  demand  exhaustive  treatment  and  therefore  to 
justify  the  preacher  in  reading  his  discourse.  And 
yet  even  here  it  may  fairly  be  questioned  v^hether 
a  congregation  can  profit  by  a  line  of  thought 
which  a  preacher  cannot  pursue  without  the  use 
of  notes.  The  preacher's  own  ability  to  master, 
vitalize,  and  deliver  truth  must  certainly  be  supe- 
rior to  the  ability  of  his  hearers,  unprepared  by 
training  or  forethought,  to  receive  and  digest  what 
he  has  made  ready. 

3.  A  justification  of  reading  is  also  found  by 
some  of  its  advocates  in  the  very  character  of  the 
exercise.  Preaching,  they  urge,  necessitates  com- 
position, and  the  demands  of  composition,  and 
especially  of  composition  dealing  with  religion,  call 
for  accuracy  and  finish.  In  this  there  is  no  doubt 
a  measure  of  force.  It  may  be  granted  at  once 
that  not  only  is  the  best  extempore  speech  likely 
to  be  marred  by  grammatical  blunders,  but,  what 
is  a  far  more  serious  matter,  truth  of  the  first 
importance  may  suffer  from  loose  and  hasty  defi- 
nition. As  to  our  composition,  however,  we  must 
learn  not  to  be  too  fastidious.  We  must  not  allow 
ourselves  to  be  slaves  to  moods  and  tenses,  and  to 
dread  a  slip  in  syntax  as  though  it  were  the  unpar- 
donable sin.  As  to  the  need  for  careful  definition 
of  truths  of  the  first  moment,  we  are  one  with  the 
advocate  of  reading  sermons ;  our  contention  is 
not  for  impromptu  speech,  but  only  for  such  a 
method  of  delivery  as  shall  do  the  utmost  justice 
to  thought  carefully  prepared  in  the  study. 


314  THE    MAKING    OF    THE   SERMON 

VII.  Should  the  preacher  conclude,  after  hon^ 
estly  trying  all  other  methods,  that  for  him  it  is 
best  to  read  his  sermons,  we  may  offer  the  follow- 
ing counsels : 

1.  Cultivate  a  style  suitable  for  spoken  dis- 
course. Let  it  have  the  freedom  and  force  of 
vernacular  address.  Speak  your  sentences  aloud 
in  your  study  before  you  write  them  down.  Let 
the  fresh  air  of  open  day  blow  through  them  lest 
they  smell  too  much  of  the  lamp. 

2.  Remember  that  errors  in  composition  which 
would  be  quite  pardonable  in  a  spoken  address  are 
unpardonable  when  the  address  is  read.  The  plain- 
spoken  Scotch  elder  objected  to  his  minister's  ser- 
mon— first,  because  it  was  read  ;  secondly,  because 
he  did  not  read  it  well;  and  thirdly,  ''because  it 
was  not  worth  readin'  at  a'."  How  few  read  ser- 
mons, which  by  the  character  of  their  thought  or 
their  composition,  seem  worth  the  pains  which  have 
been  taken  in  writing  them  out  in  full, 

3.  Train  yourself  in  the  free  and  unfettered  use 
of  a  full  manuscript.  To  do  this  means  giving 
almost  as  much  time  to  becoming  familiar  with 
the  composition  which  you  propose  to  read  as  is 
given  to  it  by  him  who  first  writes  and  then  lays 
aside  his  paper  before  going  into  the  pulpit.^  A 
skillful  preacher  of  the  present  day  warns  the 
young  preacher  that  ''he  will  never  command  his 
congregation  if  he  cannot  command  his  paper 

1  Taylor,  "Yale  Lectures,"  p.  157. 

2  R.  Gee,  "Our  Sermons,"  p.  239. 


"  2 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  315 

Preach  not  from  but  through  your  manuscript,  as 
Chalmers  did/ 

4.  Spare  no  pains  to  make  yourself  a  good 
reader.  It  by  no  means  follows  that  should  you 
read  your  sermons  your  hearers  will  not  detect  the 
lack  of  the  oratorical  temperament  and  the  presence 
of  natural  timidity.  Attend  to  your  voice,  to  its 
tone  and  flexibility  and  emphasis.  Charles  Dick- 
ens learned  all  his  public  readings  by  heart,^  and 
knew  every  word  of  them  without  needing  to  look 
at  the  open  book  which  lay  on  the  desk  before 
him.  Yet  in  the  anticipation  of  an  engagement, 
he  says  that  he  read  over  the  selections  often  twice 
a  day  ''with  exactly  the  same  pains  as  at  night." 
Mindful  that  what  is  known  as  clerical  sore  throat 
is  much  more  frequent  with  those  who  read  their 
sermons  than  with  those  who  use  no  manuscript, 
it  will  be  wise  for  you  to  attend  to  position  and 
gesture.  An  eminent  surgeon  avers  that  the 
malady  is  caused  by  the  habit  of  hanging  the 
head.  "The  speaker  who  directs  his  remarks  to 
the  buttons  of  his  waistcoat  is  almost  certain  to 
have  a  sore  throat.  Clergymen's  heads  ought 
never  to  be  hanged." 

So  much  may  be  said  by  way  of  counsel ;  but 
we  say  it  with  the  proviso  that  under  ordinary 
circumstances  this  is  the  last  method  which  the 
preacher  should  adopt  permanently.  To  read  may 
be  the  wiser  course  to  pursue  for  the  preacher 

1  Taylor,  ''The  Scottish  Pulpit,"  p.  181. 
2  "Charles  Dickens'  Life,"  by  Forster,  p.  350. 


3l6       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

who,  while  he  has  fullness  of  thought  and  grace  of 
language,  lacks  the  oratorical  temperament,  and 
consequently  falls  very  much  below  the  level  of 
his  own  natural  abilities  when  he  dispenses  with  a 
manuscript.  In  nearly  every  other  instance  we 
advise  against  it.  An  age  of  effective  preachers 
is  likely  to  be  an  age  of  preachers  who  do  not  read. 
The  decadence  of  the  pulpit  will  be  marked  by  a 
return  to  this  "supine  and  slothful  way  of  preach- 
ing," which  should  never  be  adopted  without 
conscientious  and  prayerful  consideration  of  the 
preacher's  duty  to  his  Master  and  to  the  world. 

Better  perhaps  here  than  anywhere  else,  we  may 
refer  to  the  memorized  sermon,  in  which  either 
the  words  are  committed  to  memory  without  being 
written  down,  sentence  after  sentence  being  com- 
posed and  learned,  or  the  words  are  first  written 
out  in  full  and  then  the  sermon  is  verbally  memo- 
rized. The  second  method  is  the  more  common, 
but  neither  of  them  can  be  commended  to  the 
ordinary  preacher.  Because  Robert  Hall  inwardly 
elaborated  his  great  sermons  in  the  very  words 
in  which  they  were  delivered,  or  because  Thomas 
Guthrie  never  entered  the  pulpit  without  having 
first  written  and  then  committed  his,  no  precedent 
is  furnished  for  us.  On  account  of  his  acute  suf- 
fering, Robert  Hall  was  compelled  to  refrain  from 
much  writing;  and  Thomas  Guthrie  inherited  the 
traditions  of  the  Scotch  pulpit,  which  laid  under 
the  strictest  ban  the  use  of  the  paper  in  the  pulpit. 

No  one  will  question  that  when  the  sermon  is 


THE    DELIVERY    OF   THE   SERMON  317 

well  memorized,  the  method  combines  to  a  rare 
degree  finish  with  power,  and  it  is  certain  that, 
since  the  work  of  committmg  presupposes  careful 
preparation  in  addition  to  the  task  of  acquiring  the 
composition,  the  preacher  who  does  this  will  be 
free  from  the  charge  of  indolence  or  superficiality. 
The  objections  to  memorizing  are,  however,  very 
serious.  Committing  to  memory  is  largely  a  me- 
chanical process,  and  it  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
the  higher  faculties  are  suppressed  rather  than 
stimulated,  and  the  heaviest  strain  falls  upon  the 
inferior  ability  to  remember  words.  The  full  and 
vivid  processes  of  immediate  thought  are  neces- 
sarily arrested,  the  preacher  dreads  nothing  so 
much  as  spontaneity,  and  shuts  the  door  of  his 
mind  against  a  fresh  idea  as  resolutely  as  the  door 
of  the  ark  was  shut  against  the  flood.  However 
perfectly  it  be  done,  the  method  is  only  another 
form  of  reading.  An  invisible  paper  is  present  to 
the  eye  of  the  preacher,  and  he  is  really  reading 
off  its  contents,  line  by  line  and  page  by  page. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  be  ill  done,  an  audience 
becomes  painfully  conscious  of  the  effort  which 
the  preacher  is  putting  forth  to  grasp  at  the 
eluding  word,  and  half  dreads,  half  hopes  for  a 
collapse.  Meanwhile,  the  fervor  and  freedom  of 
true  eloquence  are  conspicuous  only  by  their  ab- 
sence. 

No  method  can  be  recommended  which  pre- 
cludes the  sudden  suggestion  of  word  or  thought, 
and  by  so  doing  binds  the  truth  and,  to  use  the 


3l8       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

Scottish  phrase,  "stints  the  Spirit."  Of  all  meth- 
ods, memorizing  seems  to  us  to  be  the  one  least 
to  be  recommended.  Rare  powers  of  memory 
combined  with  rare  rhetorical  gifts  may  justify  its 
use.     Otherwise  it  is  to  be  avoided. 


THE  DELIVERY  OF  THE  SERMON 
— Continued 


SUMMARY 


I.  Definition  of  the  Term  "Extemporaneous." 

1.  Not  impromptu  preaching. 

2.  Implies     special    fitness  :     (i)    Health ;     (2)     Intellectual 

alertness. 

3.  Allows  some  amount  of  preparation  :   (i)  The  subject  to  be 

mastered  beforehand ;  ( 2 )  Words  and  even  phrases  some- 
times composed  ;  (3)  A  preparation  of  the  heart. 

II.  Merits  of  the  Extemporaneous  Method. 

1.  It  is  natural. 

2.  It  is  convenient. 

3.  It  is  rhetorically  excellent. 

III.  Cautions  and  Counsels. 

1.  Must  not  be  adopted  under  any  misconception  :  (i)  That 

it  has  the  sanction  of  great  names;  (2)  That  it  is  the 
easiest  method.     Beware  of  mental  and  moral  deterioration. 

2.  Keep  the  mind  well  stored  and  trained  to  accuracy. 

3.  Constantly  practise  composition. 

4.  Make  careful  rhetorical  preparation. 

5.  Discipline  yourself  in  composure. 

6.  Make  good  use  of  your  preparation.     How?    (i)  Prepara- 

tion may  be  entirely  mental ;  (2)  A  brief  may  be  prepared, 
but  not  used  ;  (3)  A  brief  may  be  prepared  and  carried 
into  the  pulpit. 

Concluding  Summary. 


XXI 

THE    DELIVERY  OF    THE  SERMON    (CONTINUED) 

There  is  so  much  confusion  as  to  the  meaning  of 

the  term  "extemporaneous,"  and  especially  as  it  is 

applied  to  sermons,  that  we  must  be- 
r  ,.  .      .  The  Extern- 

fore   proceedmg   any  further  come     poraneous 

to    a   clear   understanding   on    this      Sermon 

point. 

I.  An  extemporaneous  sermon  may  be  defined 
as  one  in  which  the  preacher  knows  what  he  is  go- 
ing to  say,  but  not  how  he  is  going  to  say  it.^  In 
happy  moments  the  words  seem  to  come  as  if  by 
instinct,  but  there  are  other  times  when  the  swift 
intuitions  of  the  instant  fail,  and  it  is  this  uncer- 
tainty which  makes  the  sermons  of  the  extempo- 
raneous preacher  so  uneven.^ 

I .  Let  it  be  understood  at  once  that  extempora- 
neous preaching  is  not  the  same  as  impromptu 
preaching.  As  to  this  we  need  say  little,  and  that 
little  only  in  condemnation.  To  the  Quaker  who 
told  Richard  Baxter  that  he  never  studied  what  he 
said,  the  reply  was,  **  Then  I  less  marvel  at  thy 
nonsense."  Chalmers  called  such  preaching  "a. 
mere   gurgle   of    syllables " ;   and   when   a    lady 

^  Ath.   Coquerel. 
'John  Foster,  "Life  and  Correspondence,"  p.  33. 

V  321 


322       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

praised  an  impromptu  preacher  to  Archbishop 
Magee,  saying,  "  Oh  what  a  saint  in  the  pulpit," 
his  retort  was,  **  And,  oh,  what  a  martyr  in  the 
pew."  "  My  lord,"  a  clergyman  once  boasted  to 
his  bishop,  ^Vwhen  I  go  up  the  steps  of  the  pulpit 
I  never  know  the  subject  of  my  sermon  "  ;  and  the 
bishop  answered  him,  ''  No,  and  I  hear  that  your 
congregation  does  not  when  you  come  down." 

There  may  indeed  be  times  when,  between  us 
and  the  discourse  which  we  have  prepared,  a  will 
higher  than  our  own  seems  evidently  to  interpose 
another  message.  In  the  ministry  of  Fletcher  of 
Madeley,  and  in  the  revival  services  of  C.  G.  Fin- 
ney, there  came  such  experiences,  and  invariably 
the  sequel  explained  why  the  change  had  to  be 
made.  But  these  times  will  be  infrequent.  As  a 
rule  the  Spirit  honors  the  preacher  who  devoutly 
prepares  his  sermon  beforehand. 

2.  Extemporaneous  preaching  to  be  effective 
implies  special  fitness.  The  speaker  should  enjoy 
good  physical  health  and  a  fine  digestion.  He 
should  be  endowed  with  intellectual  alertness,  and 
a  readiness  to  see  and  catch  points  as  they  pre- 
sent themselves.  The  famous  ''  Conferences  "  of 
Lacordaire  were  rapidly  prepared,  but  while  he 
worked  the  intellectal  effort  was  intense.  Dr.  A. 
Alexander  used  to  say  that  if  he  had  to  stake  his 
life  on  a  single  effort  he  would,  if  familiar  with  the 
general  subject,  abandon  himself  entirely  to  the 
impulse  of  the  moment  The  tremendous  impor- 
tance of  the  issue  would  brace  all  his  powers  to 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  323 

their  utmost.^  The  opinion  of  Dr.  Kirk,  himself 
one  of  the  most  effective  of  extemporaneous 
speakers,  is  of  value ;  and  he  says  that  in  order  to 
success  the  preacher  who  adopts  this  method  needs 
a  full  mind,  a  glowing  heart,  and  a  relentless  pur- 
pose to  secure  practical  results.^ 

3.  Extemporaneous  preaching  allows  some 
amount  of  preparation. 

(i)  By  previous  study  the  general  lines  of  the 
subject  must  have  been  mastered  as  completely  as 
though  the  whole  had  been  written.  The  only 
secret  (so  Archbishop  Magee  told  his  clergy)  is  to 
burn  the  subject  into  the  brain  until  out  of  the 
fullness  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  Daniel 
Webster  opened  his  large  eyes  when  he  was  asked 
about  speeches  of  his  which  were  said  to  have  been 
delivered  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  or  at  brief 
notice,  and  uttered  a  sentence  which  deserves  to  be 
written  in  letters  of  gold:  ''Young  man,  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  extemporaneous  acquisition."  So 
another  orator,  Wendell  Phillips,  cdunsels,  "  Think 
out  your  subjects  carefully.  Read  all  you  can  rel- 
ative to  them.  Fill  your  mind,  and  then  talk  sim- 
ply and  naturally."  And  Dr.  Joseph  Parker,  who 
himself  does  not  read  his  sermons,  says  :  "  There 
is  only  one  thing  I  am  more  afraid  of  than  extem- 
poraneous speaking,  and  that  is,  extemporaneous 
thinking." 

(2)  Indeed,  the  preparation  may  be  carried  so  far 
that  certain  words  may  be  chosen  and  even  sen- 

^Dr.  A.  Alexander,  "Life,"  pp.  84,  87.        *  "Life,"  p.  42. 


324       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

tences  composed.  A  theological  definition,  for 
example,  should  never  be  left  at  the  mercy  of  ex- 
temporaneous selection. 

(3)  Certainly  in  no  other  method  of  delivery  is 
the  preparation  of  the  heart  so  important.  In  a 
memorable  crisis  in  the  debates  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  the  learning  of  Selden,  then  the  greatest 
lawyer  in  England,  had  been  employed  to  demolish 
the  hopes  of  the  Evangelical  party,  and  apparently 
he  had  completely  succeeded.  Then  Samuel  Ruth- 
erford turned  to  young  Gillespie,  the  hope  of  Scot- 
tish orthodoxy,  and  said,  "  Rise,  George  man,  and 
defend  the  church  which  Christ  hath  purchased 
with  his  own  blood."  Gillespie  did  rise,  and  so 
powerfully  did  he  speak  that  when  he  sat  down 
Selden  turned  to  a  friend  and  said,  ''  That  young 
man  has  swept  away  the  learning  and  the  labor  of 
ten  years  of  my  life."  When  Gillespie's  note  book 
was  seized  upon  by  his  brethren  so  that  at  least 
the  outlines  of  this  triumphant  speech  might  be 
preserved,  all  they  found  were  these  three  words. 
Da  liicem,  Domine,  "  Give  light,  O  Lord."  Such 
critical  moments  come  to  all  preachers,  did  they 
but  know  it ;  and  at  such  times  it  is  the  heart  of 
Gillespie  and  not  the  intellect  of  Selden  that  pre- 
vails. 

II.  What  are  the  merits  of  the  extemporaneous 
method }     We  mention  three  points  in  its  favor. 

I.  It  is  natural.  To  become  artificial  and  formal 
in  style  is  the  danger  of  him  who  writes.  The  ex- 
temporaneous speaker  is  likely  to  escape  this  fault, 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE   SERMON  325 

and  to  be  obedient  to  Augustine's  maxim,  *'  Let 
not  the  preacher  become  the  servant  of  words ; 
rather  let  words  be  servants  of  the  speaker."  The 
glance  of  the  eye,  the  free  motion  of  the  arms, 
the  gestures  with  the  hand,  the  poise  and  play  of 
the  whole  body — all  these  help  the  extempora- 
neous preacher  to  make  the  most  of  himself. 

2.  Undoubtedly  also  it  is  convenient.  Mr.  Spur- 
geon  prepared  his  Sunday  morning  sermon  on  Sat- 
urday evening,  working  with  great  intensity  while 
he  worked,  and  pressing  into  his  service  all  the 
resources  of  a  fine  library.  His  evening  sermon 
was  prepared  on  Sunday  afternoon.  This  allowed 
him  time  for  other  work  connected  with  his  great 
church. 

3.  Moreover,  it  is  rhetorically  excellent.  Ex- 
temporaneous speech  is,  as  Quintilian  says,  "  the 
crown  and  radiance  of  all  eloquence."  The 
speaker,  if  in  a  happy  mood,  is  stimulated  to 
achievements  which  surprise  himself.  Masterful 
moments  come  to  him  when  he  knows  himself  to 
be  equal  to  the  emergency,  when  rare  and  fitting 
words  appear  at  command,  when  trains  of  thought 
marshal  themselves  at  his  bidding,  and  when  the 
truth  glows  with  the  passion  of  his  vigorous  con- 
ception and  burns  its  way  into  the  hearts  of  those 
who  listen  to  him.  When  a  lady  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Robert  Hall's  church  at  Leicester  was 
reading  to  him  her  notes  of  one  of  his  discourses, 
he  interrupted  her  with  the  inquiry,  "Did  I  say 
that,  madam  .-*     I  did  not   know  I  had   ever   said 


326       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

anything  so  fine."  "What  would  I  not  do  or 
suffer  to  buy  that  ability?"  wrote  Emerson,  after 
listening  to  a  facile  extemporaneous  speaker.  But, 
then,  as  Emerson  wisely  adds,  "To  each  his  own." 
We  may  readily  grant  that  Quintillian's  estimate  is 
a  true  one.  Undoubtedly  extemporaneous  speech 
is  the  highest  form  of  address.  But  let  us  beware 
before  we  adopt  it  as  our  own  constant  practice. 
The  heights  to  which  this  method  lifts  us  may 
usually  be  very  lofty,  but  the  depths  to  which  it 
sometimes  sinks  us  are  well-nigh  unfathomable; 
and  too  often  the  level  on  which  we  finally  settle 
is  nearer  to  the  second  extreme  than  to  the  first. 
Dean  Farrar  is  probably  correct  when  he  says, 
"  It  is  certain  that  not  one  man  in  a  thousand  has 
the  requisite  gifts  to  preach  in  this  manner."  ^ 

III.  Some  cautions  and  counsels  will  be  in 
place  here. 

I.  And  first,  I  would  urge  the  young  preacher 
not  to  adopt  the  extemporaneous  method  under 
any  mistaken  conception. 

(i)  Without  question  it  has  the  sanction  of 
great  names.  But  such  preachers  as  Chrysostom 
and  Latimer  and  Whitefield  and  Spurgeon  do  not 
give  us  the  measure  of  the  ordinary  ministry. 

(2)  Nor  should  we  decide  on  this  method  be- 
cause it  is  the  easiest.  There  is  a  deep  meaning 
in  the  old  phrase,  "The  duty  and  discipline  of  ex- 
temporary preaching,"  and  Richard  Baxter,  among 
the  most  conscientious  of  men,  has  left  us  his  sig- 

^  "Contemporary  Review,"  Nov.,  1896,  p.  627. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  327 

nificant  confession :  "  I  use  notes  as  much  as  any 
man  when  I  take  pains,  and  as  little  as  any  man 
when  I  am  lazy  or  busy  and  have  no  time  to  pre- 
pare." "Never  begin  to  preach  without  notes," 
says  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  "with  any  idea  of  saving 
yourselves  work  by  it ;  if  you  do,  you  will  fail, 
and  you  will  richly  deserve  to  fail."  ^ 

The  danger  of  deterioration  in  the  character  of 
his  work  is  greater  in  the  case  of  the  extempo- 
raneous speaker  than  in  the  case  of  any  other. 
Unconsciously  to  himself  he  comes  to  limit  his 
vocabulary  to  certain  words  and  phrases,  and  as  the 
years  go  on  he  fails  to  maintain  the  high  standard 
with  which  he  started.  Perhaps  unconsciously  to 
himself,  he  accepts  the  lower  level  as  the  more 
convenient.  There  is  also  great  risk  that  he  will 
fall  into  habits  of  exaggeration,  and  lavish  his  su- 
perlatives on  inferior  subjects.  Be  on  your  guard, 
therefore,  against  fluent  mediocrity.  With  yet 
greater  emphasis  we  would  say.  Beware  of  the 
moral  deterioration  which  threatens  the  extempo- 
raneous speaker.  Froude  held  that  men  of  high 
sincerity  seldom  speak  well,  because  they  are  too 
careful  about  truth,  and  know  "  how  difficult  it  is 
to  adhere  to  it  in  rapid  and  excited  delivery." 
Avoid  unmeaning  expansion  and  the  reckless  use 
of  words  which  neither  add  new  ideas  nor  em- 
phasize those  which  have  already  been  expressed. 
And  if  you  resolve  to  speak  extemporaneously, 
see  to  it  that  the  illustrations  which  you  employ 

1  Storrs,  "Preaching  Without  Notes,"  p.  38. 


328       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

are  fresh.  Keep  clear  of  the  stock  anecdotes  and 
stories  which  form  the  staple  of  ready-made  col- 
lections, and  of  lines  of  poetry  which  because 
they  are  good  for  all  occasions  are  therefore  not 
good  for  any. 

2.  In  order  to  do  full  justice  to  the  distinction 
between  saying  something  and  having  something 
to  say,  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  extemporaneous 
preacher  to  keep  his  mind  well  stored  with  facts 
and  to  train  it  to  accuracy  in  the  expression  of 
them.  Mere  readiness  can  never  take  the  place 
of  these. ^  "No  man  could  ever  speak  extempore 
if  everything  he  said  was  literally  the  fruit  of  the 
moment."  If  Beecher  devoted  only  a  short  time 
to  the  actual  preparation  of  a  discourse,  it  needs 
to  be  remembered  about  him  that  he  had  a  won- 
derfully accurate  memory  for  facts,  and  that  he 
lived  in  the  atmosphere  of  sermon  making.  Arch- 
bishop Magee's  advice  to  a  brother  clergyman  is 
much  to  the  point:  "Master  your  subject,  rule 
number  one ;  master  yourself,  rule  number  two ; 
put  one  idea  into  your  sermon,  and  as  many 
thoughts  as  you  can ;  and  when  you  have  worked 
that  idea  out  you  ought  to  be  able  to  give  your 
sermon  unaided.  Unless  you  can,  it  is  a  bad  ser- 
mon." 

3.  Constantly  practise  composition.  Robert 
Hall,  although  prevented  by  his  physical  infirmity 
from  using  his  own  pen  very  much,  insists  that  a 
man  will  speak  well  in  proportion  as  he  has  written 

*  See  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  • '  Thoughts  on  Preaching. ' ' 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  329 

much.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious.  It  is  no 
easy  matter  to  couple  mental  exactness  to  verbal 
exactness.  In  the  rush  of  unprepared  speech  it  is 
hard  to  avoid  over-statement  or  under-statement. 
Always  to  choose  the  proper  word,  and  to  build 
it  into  the  sentences  in  the  proper  place,  is  an 
achievement  which  baffles  even  the  practised 
speaker.  One  of  John  Bright's  most  pathetic 
passages — the  peroration  of  his  speech  on  the 
Crimean  War — trembled  at  one  moment  on  the 
verge  of  bathos  because  the  right  word  did  not 
immediately  occur  to  him.  A  keen  observer  who 
frequently  listened  to  Wendell  Phillips  testifies 
that  with  all  that  orator's  wonderful  command  of 
good  English,  he  never  heard  him  make  but  one 
speech  which  was  not  marred  by  decided  gram- 
matical blunders.  ** Nothing  that  I  say  in  public," 
Spurgeon  declared,  "is  fit  to  be  printed  as  I  say 
it."  In  advising  young  preachers  to  learn  how  to 
speak  without  notes.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs  is  careful  to 
insist  upon  writing.  "Only  careful  writing  sepa- 
rates, signalizes,  infixes  the  richer  and  remoter 
words  in  the  mind.  We  pass  over  them  as  we 
read.     We  seek  them  out  with  the  pen."  ^ 

4.  Not  satisfied  with  writing  in  order  to  enrich 
and  fortify  your  vocabulary,  you  must,  further, 
make  careful  elocutionary  preparation.  Not  the 
language  which  you  use,  but  also  the  way  in  which 
you  use  it  should  be  considered.  Words  can  no 
more  be  separated  from  speech  in  preaching  than 

1  "Preaching  Without  Notes,"  p.  47. 


330       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

can  the  shot  be  separated  from  the  cannon  in  ar- 
tillery. Study  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  vowels ; 
the  effect  of  words  as  they  are  spoken ;  their 
majesty  and  melody;  their  power  and  pathos; 
their  effect  in  soothing  or  stimulating  the  mind. 
Whitefield,  it  is  said,  could  do  what  he  pleased 
with  an  audience  with  the  word  "Mesopotamia"  ; 
and  Robert  Hall  could  never  utter  the  word 
*'  tear  "  without  a  disposition  to  weep,  which  was 
shared  by  his  hearers. 

5.  Magee's  insistence  that  the  speaker  must 
master  himself,  suggests  that  the  speaker  must 
discipline  himself  in  composure  and  self-posses- 
sion. He  must  accustom  himself  to  meet  inter- 
ruption at  all  events  with  outward  serenity.  Ers- 
kine,  the  most  popular  advocate  of  his  day,  broke 
down  before  indifference ;  and  to  the  lawyer  who 
was  associated  with  him  in  one  case  he  exclaimed, 
''  Who  do  you  think  can  get  on  with  that  wet 
blanket  of  a  face  of  yours  before  him  ? "  The 
preacher  is  happy  indeed  if  his  gaze  never  meets 
the  lack-luster  gaze,  or  the  eye  which  is  closed. 
Let  him  reflect  that  the  stolid  features  may  con- 
ceal deeper  feeling  than  he  gives  them  credit  for, 
and  that  even  though  some  member  of  his  con- 
gregation sleep,  perhaps  he  does  well.  A  falling 
handkerchief,  a  wandering  fly,  a  fainting  woman, 
or  the  baby,  which  is  not  infrequently  brought  to 
the  front  seat  by  its  proud  mother,  and  is  apt  to 
cry  at  any  moment,  these  are  among  the  minor 
annoyances  against  which  the  speaker  needs  to  be 


THE    DELIVERY    OF   THE   SERMON  33 1 

proof.  Only  time  and  practice  can  train  him  to 
be  superior  to  them ;  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  in  the  case  of  many  preachers  even  time  and 
practice  fail  to  insure  him  invariable  self-posses- 
sion. 

6.  As  a  last  point  we  advise  the  extemporaneous 
preacher  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  his 
preparation.  Three  ways  of  doing  this  may  be 
mentioned. 

(i)  The  first  is  to  use  no  notes  at  all.  In  the 
dark  lanes  around  Cambridge  young  Spurgeon 
practised  his  early  sermons,  on  his  way  to  the 
villages  where  he  was  to  preach.  "  I  do  not  mean 
that  I  ever  repeated  a  single  sentence  from 
memory,  but  I  thought  my  lesson  over  while  on 
my  legs,  and  then  worked  it  into  my  very  soul." 
The  practice  of  many  extemporaneous  preachers 
seems  to  be  summed  up  in  Doctor  Hook's  pre- 
scription, ''Think  about  what  you  have  to  say,  and 
then  say  it,  in  as  clear  and  vigorous  a  way  as  you 
can." 

(2)  A  second  plan  is  to  prepare  a  brief,  but  not 
to  carry  it  into  the  pulpit.  The  purpose  which  it 
serves  in  this  case  is  to  impress  on  the  mind  and 
preserve  in  the  memory  the  sequence  of  thought. 
Doctor  Storrs  held  this  kind  of  preparation  of  so 
much  importance  that  he  says :  "  If  needful  I 
would  write  the  plan  of  the  sermon  over  twenty 
times  before  preaching ;  not  copying  merely  from 
one  piece  of  paper  upon  another,  but  writing  it 
out  carefully  and  fully,  each  time  independently, 


332        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

till  I  perfectly  knew  it ;  till  it  was  fixed  absolutely 
in  the  mind."  ^ 

(3)  A  third  plan  is  not  only  to  prepare  a  brief, 
but  also  to  carry  it  into  the  pulpit  for  use.  This 
was  the  practice  of  F.  W.  Robertson,  but  he  rarely 
used  more  written  notes  than  could  be  penciled 
upon  a  small  slip  of  paper.  Even  this  was  speedily 
dispensed  with.  "  Before  ten  minutes  had  gone 
by  it  was  crushed  to  uselessness  in  his  grasp,  for 
he  knit  his  fingers  together  over  it,  as  he  knit  his 
words  over  his  thoughts."  By  Bishop  Wilberforce 
the  brief  was  probably  used  as  little.  A  brother 
prelate  relates  that,  on  one  occasion,  after  hearing 
the  great  orator  describe  the  effect  on  the  soul  of 
the  clearing  away  of  intellectual  doubts,  he  begged 
to  be  allowed  to  see  the  passage  in  the  manuscript. 
*'  The  bishop  put  the  document  into  his  hand, 
turned  to  the  page  which  contained  the  passage 
inquired  after,  and  showed  him  a  blank  sheet  of 
paper,  inscribed  with  the  single  word  "fog."  He 
preferred  he  said  to  carry  this  manuscript  into  the 
pulpit — it  frequently  lay  on  the  desk  before  him 
upside  down — for  the  benefit  of  the  younger 
clergy.  *'  I  am  afraid  of  their  beginning  to  preach 
extempore  before  they  are  able  to  do  so  with  ad- 
vantage to  their  hearers."  ^  But  it  is  safe  to  sur- 
mise that  there  was  another  reason.  The  notes, 
however  brief  and  however  little  used,  gave  him 
confidence  as  he  spoke.     A  famous  Presbyterian 

1  "Preaching  Without  Notes,"  pp.  I16,  I17. 
"  **  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,"  p.  371. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  333 

preacher  of  the  last  generation^  was  accustomed  to 
write  only  a  few  hints  for  his  sermon  on  a  slip  of 
paper  which  he  invariably  placed  under  the  thumb 
of  his  left  hand.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  little 
brief  slipped  off  and  sailed  away  to  the  floor  of 
the  middle  aisle  of  the  church  where  he  was 
preaching,  he  maintained  his  self-possession,  ''tore 
a  small  piece  from  a  newspaper  in  his  pocket, 
placed  it  under  his  thumb,  and  went  on  with  his 
discourse,  gathering  from  it  apparently  the  same 
inspiration."  All  men  are  not  so  happily  consti- 
tuted, and  the  ordinary  preacher  who  uses  a  brief 
or  notes  will  do  well  to  prepare  his  notes  with 
care ;  to  write  them  in  a  clear  and  legible  hand  ; 
to  see  that  they  are  well  placed  on  the  open  Bible, 
and  not  to  trust  to  a  chance  newspaper  for  deliv- 
erance in  case  of  accident,  lest  all  such  expedients 
prove  vain,  and  his  sermon  resemble  the  blank 
sheet  with  the  one  ominous  word  in  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's  manuscript.  He  will  do  well  too  to  keep 
himself  from  being  the  slave  of  any  habit  which  is  a 
help  only  in  seeming  to  furnish  the  appearance  of  it. 
We  may  sum  up  as  to  the  extemporaneous  ser- 
mon by  saying,  that  while  it  has  been  the  method 
used  by  some  of  the  greatest  of  preachers — men 
who  have  possessed  richness  of  thought,  clearness 
of  intellectual  perception,  fervor  and  fullness  of 
expression,  and  the  natural  and  acquired  graces  of 
the  true  orator — yet  it  is  an  exceedingly  dangerous 
method  for  the  majority  of  preachers,  especially 

»  Dr.  John  Blair  Smith. 


334  'i^HE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

for  those,  and  their  name  is  legion,  who  have  more 
language  than  thought.  Certainly,  of  all  methods 
of  delivery  it  is  the  one  which  produces  the  most 
unequal  results.  To  it  belong  the  most  triumphant 
achievements  of  the  pulpit,  and  also  its  most  humil- 
iating defeats. 


THE  DELIVERY  OF  THE  SERMON 
— Continued 


SUMMARY 


Definition.     Full  and  careful  preparation,  combined  with  free 
delivery. 

I.  Full  and  Careful  Preparation. 

1.  The  rhetorical  order:    (i)   The  conception  of  ideas;    (2) 

Their  arrangement  in  logical  order ;  (3)  Their  expression 
in  fitting  language. 

2.  Advantages  of  writing  :  (i)  It  gives  exactness  of  expression  ; 

(2)   It  gives  literary  finish  ;  (3)   Rhetorical  efficiency  :  (a) 
Writing  will  impress  the  language  on  the  mind ;  [b]  And 
will  give  the  preacher  a  working  vocabulary. 
Note — (a)  As  to  the   time   required  for  writing  a  sermon ;   (b) 
Points  in  contrast  with  other  methods. 

II.  Free  Delivery. 
Essentials  to  success : 

1.  A  resolve  to  succeed. 

2.  Attention  to  health. 

3.  Regular  habits  of  work. 

4.  Rhetorical  preparation. 

5.  Pulpit  experience.     This  will  bring  (i)  Ease  ;  (2)  A  sense 

of  reality;  (3)  Freedom  and  vividness  ;  (4)  Accuracy. 
Note — As  to  points  which  fail  to  occur  in  delivery.     Conclusion. 
This  method  commended  : 

1.  Because  it  avoids  the  objections  urged  against  other  meth- 

ods. 

2.  Because  it  combines  the  largest  number  of  excellencies. 

3.  Because  it  furnishes  a  store  of  useful  material. 

4.  Because  it  insures  a  tolerable  level  of  excellence. 

5.  Because  it  does  most  complete  justice  to  the  work  of  preach- 

ing. 


XXII 

THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON    (CONTINUED) 

To  each  one  of  the  methods  of  delivering  a  ser- 
mon  already  considered    there   are,   as  we  have 

seen,  grave   objections.      Let  it  be     ,     _ 

°         ,     ,  .  ,     The  Oompos- 

remembered  that  we  are  m  search     ^^^  Method 

of  the  best  way  for  the  largest  num- 
ber of  preachers.  That  Chalmers  read,  and  Guth- 
rie recited,  and  Spurgeon  extemporized,  can  fur- 
nish no  model  for  the  majority  of  us  to  copy.  The 
method  which  we  are  now  to  consider  may  be 
commended  because  it  is  not  only  on  the  whole 
the  most  satisfactory,  but  also  because  any  preacher 
may  acquire  it  who  is  willing  to  take  pains  to  do 
so.  He  who  is  not  willing  to  take  pains  should 
have  no  place  in  the  ministry. 

The  composite  method  we  define  as  full  and 
careful  preparation  combined  with  free  delivery. 
Here,  it  will  be  noticed,  there  are  two  statements  : 
The  method  demands  full  and  careful  preparation, 
and  it  also  demands  free  delivery.  With  these 
two  points  we  will  now  deal  more  at  length. 

I.  Full  and  careful  preparation  is  the  first  requi- 
site in  the  composite  method  of  delivery.  In  any 
discourse  the  true   rhetorical   order  is,  first,   the 

conception  of  ideas ;  then,  their  orderly  arrange- 

w  337 


338        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

ment ;  and  finally,  their  expression  in  fitting  lan- 
guage. Now  in  the  preparation  of  a  sermon  to  be 
given  according  to  the  method  which  we  have 
under  consideration  at  present,  we  must  strenu- 
ously insist  on  each  of  these  three. 

I.  As  to  the  conception  of  ideas,  let  us  say,  By 
all  means  do  justice  to  your  high  vocation.  The 
preacher  has  the  noblest  of  all  subjects — religion  ; 
he  has  the  best  of  handbooks — the  Bible ;  he  has 
at  his  service  vast  accumulations  of  opinion  and 
research  in  commentaries  and  encyclopedias;  and, 
better  even  than  all  of  these,  he  has  the  distinct 
promise  of  Divine  aid.  Even  with  so  many  points 
in  his  favor,  however,  he  is  bound  to  bear  in  mind 
continually  the  fact  that  the  conception  of  ideas 
must  imply  his  own  personal  apprehension  of 
them.  ''It  is  far  better,"  as  Martin  Luther  says, 
"to  see  with  our  own  eyes  than  with  other  people's 
eyes  " ;  and  there  are  preachers,  waterlogged  on 
the  Dead  Sea  of  human  authority,  who  need  to  lay 
to  heart  his  further  words:  "Through  so  many 
commentaries  and  books  the  dear  Bible  is  buried, 
so  that  the  people  do  not  look  at  the  text  itself." 
We  repeat,  that  at  the  root  of  the  composite 
method  lies  the  imperative  necessity  that  you 
make  your  own  any  ideas  which  you  propose  to 
use.  Socrates  was  wont  to  declare  that  all  men 
are  eloquent  enough  on  subjects  whereon  they 
have  knowledge  ;  and  Quintilian  puts  the  prime 
importance  of  mastering  our  material  in  his  coun- 
sel, <<  Let  there  be  care  about  words,  but  solicitude 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE   SERMON  339 

about  things."  To  a  speaker  who  had  not  yet 
learned  this  first  lesson  in  effective  oratory,  Pitt 
said  :  ''  You  are  more  anxious  about  words  than 
about  ideas.  You  do  not  consider  that  if  you  are 
thinking  of  words  you  will  have  no  ideas,  but  if 
you  have  ideas  words  will  come  of  themselves." 
So  Horace  Bushnell  gave  it  as  his  deliberate  judg- 
ment, **that  there  cannot  be  much  preaching 
worthy  of  the  name  where  there  is  no  thinking." 

2.  The  ideas  thus  acquired  must,  in  the  next 
place,  be  arranged  in  logical  order.  Bring  them 
into  such  relations  the  one  to  the  other  that  they 
shall  form  a  continuous  chain.  The  divisions  of 
the  discourse,  and  the  thoughts  under  them,  should 
stand  in  their  true  relations.  Test  this  by  repeat- 
ing to  yourself  the  successive  stages  in  your  dis- 
course before  you  have  begun  to  compose.  *'  Upon 
the  truthfulness  of  the  arrangement,"  says  F.  W. 
Robertson,  "all  depends."  Now  proceed  to  write 
out  carefully  a  sermon  plan  embodying  this  line  of 
thought.  The  fullness  or  slightness  of  this  plan 
is  very  much  a  matter  of  personal  choice,  but  we 
recommend  that  it  be  so  complete  that  if  necessary 
it  can  be  carried  into  the  pulpit  and  preached  from 
without  writing  out  the  sermon. 

Notice  at  this  point,  that  already  the  composite 
method  differs  from  memorizing.  Special  promi- 
nence is  given  not  to  the  expression  of  the  ideas 
but  to  their  conception  and  arrangement.  Instead 
of  concerning  himself  chiefly  with  the  language  of 
the  sermon  which  he  has  to  commit  to  memory, 


340  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

the  preacher  is  most  emphatically  interested  with 
its  thought.  ''Think  of  your  ideas,"  was  Pitt's 
advice  to  a  friend,  ''  and  let  your  words  take  care 
of  themselves." 

3.  Now  the  preacher  may  pass  to  the  expression 
of  his  ideas.  The  sermon  may  be  written  out  in 
full.  No  doubt  this  practice  of  writing  out  the 
sermon  word  for  word  means  hard  and  often  dis- 
tasteful work.  "At  first,"  says  President  Way- 
land,  reviewing  his  early  experiences,  "  it  was  in- 
tolerable labor."  A  joy  and  rapture  to  talk  out 
his  thought  in  words  that  flashed  upon  the  mind 
at  the  instant,  Spurgeon  declared  that  to  him 
''writing  was  the  work  of  a  slave."  Yet  by  per- 
severing at  it,  the  one  settled  down  to  the  con- 
viction that  the  distasteful  labor  could  be  done 
and  did  it ;  and  the  other  after  some  years  found 
positive  delight  in  the  laborious  task  of  serving 
God  with  his  pen.^ 

(i)  There  are  three  advantages  in  writing  in  full. 
The  first  of  these  is  that  the  speaker  acquires  ex- 
actness of  expression.  Writing,  as  Lord  Bacon 
puts  it,  "makes  an  exact  man";  and  his  contem- 
porary Bishop  Hall  testifies  that  he  never  durst 
climb  into  the  pulpit  until  he  had  penned  every 
word  of  his  sermon  in  the  same  order  wherein  he 
hoped  to  deliver  it,  "although  in  the  expression  I 
listed  not  to  be  a  slave  of  syllables." 

(2)  The  second  advantage  which  comes  from 
writing  is  literary  finish.     The  careless  grammar, 

^W.  Williams,  "Reminiscences  of  C.  H.  Spurgeon,"  p.  125. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  34 1 

the  unequal  and  ill-poised  sentences  of  purely  ex- 
temporaneous discourse  are  thus  in  a  large  meas- 
ure avoided.  Lord  Brougham  laid  it  down  *'  as  a 
rule  admitting  of  no  exception,  that  a  man  will 
speak  well  in  proportion  as  he  has  written  well." 
Spurgeon  commends  to  his  students  "the  frequent 
writing  of  sermons  that  you  may  be  preserved 
from  a  slipshod  style "  ;  F.  W.  Robertson  fre- 
quently wrote  out  on  Monday  the  sermon  preached 
on  the  previous  day ;  and  Archbishop  Magee 
*' wrote  carefully  and  labored  much,"  although  in 
the  pulpit  he  did  not  look  at  the  manuscript. 

(3)  The  third  advantage  in  writing  will  be  found 
in  rhetorical  efficiency,  to  which  Quintilian  proba- 
bly refers  when  he  says  that  only  the  use  of  the 
pen  can  make  a  man  eloquent.  To  write  will  not 
only  furnish  you  (a)  with  a  vocabulary  carefully  se- 
lected, it  will  also  impress  these  words  on  your 
mind.  '*  Loose  bind,  loose  find  "  maybe  annotated 
in  the  preacher's  case  as  meaning  that  the  words 
which  cost  him  nothing  in  selection  will  play  him 
false  in  his  after  use  of  them ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  word  which  has  given  him  pains  and 
quickened  his  critical  faculty  in  the  study  will  be 
almost  certain  to  come  at  his  bidding  in  the 
pulpit. 

{b)  We  need  to  do  full  justice,  also,  to  the  re- 
straining influence  which  this  habit  of  careful 
literary  composition  exercises  on  the  preacher's 
vocabulary.  He  writes  what  he  means  to  speak  ; 
therefore  his  manuscript  confines  itself  to  written 


342       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

speech.  He  keeps  himself  to  words  and  phrases 
which  are  oratorical.  Dr.  Hook,  for  many  years 
among  the  foremost  of  English  preachers,  records 
this  conviction  when  he  says  :  ''One  of  the  things 
which  makes  very  ordinary  sermons  from  the 
pulpit  tell,  is  this  very  circumstance,  that  I  write 
precisely  as  I  would  talk,  and  that  my  sermons  are 
thus  as  nearly  as  possible  extemporaneous  compo- 
sitions." ^  "Whoever  can  write  a  real  living  book," 
exclaims  Carlyle,  "is  he  not  the  great  preacher.-^" 
For  our  purpose  it  is  fair  to  say  that  he  is  the  great 
preacher  who  can  write  a  real  living  sermon. 

If  we  be  asked  as  to  the  amount  of  time  required 
for  making  a  sermon  in  this  way,  we  may  reply 
that  one  morning  should  be  spent  in  developing 
the  theme  and  preparing  a  complete  outline,  and 
a  second  in  writing  out  the  sermon  in  full.  It  is 
evident  that  further  than  this  no  rule  can  be  laid 
down  with  safety.  A  late  bishop  of  London 
maintained  that  a  man  could  write  a  sermon  in 
three  hours,  or  not  at  all.  Dean  Farrar  requires 
half  an  hour  more  than  this.  Certainly  not  more 
than  four  and  a  half  hours  are  needed  for  the 
whole  work  of  writing  the  sermon  out  in  full,  and 
carefully  revising  it.  The  labor  of  writing  is  much 
lightened  and  the  time  of  writing  is  much  dimin- 
ished by  the  fact  that  the  preacher  has  before  him 
his  carefully  prepared  plan,  which  really  represents 
the  hard  work  of  his  pulpit  preparation. 

It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  in  composing 

^"Successful  Preachers,"  G.  J.  Davies,  p.  141, 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  343 

and  writing  out  his  sermon  the  preacher  be  en- 
tirely free  from  interruption.  He  should  claim  at 
the  hands  of  his  people  the  whole  morning  for 
study,  and  he  is  likely  to  find  that  his  claim  is 
more  readily  allowed  by  his  congregation  than  it  is 
urged  by  himself.  From  three  to  four  hours  a 
day  of  sure  undisturbed  work  for  four  days  in  the 
week  will,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  give  him  all 
the  time  he  needs  for  preparing  his  two  sermons. 
A  sermon,  in  our  judgment,  should  be  written  at 
one  sitting,  and  if  the  previous  study  has  been 
conscientiously  performed  and  the  plan  carefully 
written  out,  the  sermon  is  likely  to  be  written 
currente  calamo.  Experience  will  soon  teach  one 
that  work  thus  thrown  off,  has  an  element  of 
superiority  all  its  own.  **  Such  swiftness  of  mere 
writing,"  says  Carlyle,  ** after  due  energy  of  prep- 
aration, is  doubtless  the  right  method." 

Thus  far  the  process  which  we  are  commending 
may  seem  to  differ  only  slightly  if  at  all  from  that 
which  is  pursued  in  some  other  methods.  And 
yet  there  is  already  a  difference.  As  contrasted 
with  the  sermon  written  and  read,  the  outline  is 
likely  to  be  more  careful,  and  the  style  of  compo- 
sition to  be  better  suited  to  spoken  discourse.  As 
contrasted  with  the  sermon  memorized  from  a 
manuscript,  more  attention  is  paid  to  the  thought 
than  to  the  language,  under  the  persuasion  that 
when  once  a  thought  has  been  put  into  the  best 
language  that  can  be  found  for  it  the  mind  with- 
out an  effort  to  recall  the  words  will  be  likely  to 


344       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

use  them  again  when  that  thought  has  to  be  ex- 
pressed.^ 

II.  It  remains  for  us  to  consider  the  second 
requisite  in  the  composite  method.  This  is  free 
delivery. 

In  order  that  a  sermon  thus  carefully  prepared 
should  be  preached  with  all  the  force  and  fresh- 
ness  of  an  extemporaneous  discourse,  what  i^ 
needed  ? 

1.  First,  a  resolve  to  succeed.  The  art  of  speak 
ing  without  notes,  like  that  of  swimming  without 
corks,  is  never  acquired  by  some  preachers  simply 
because  they  lack  resolution.  They  do  not  be- 
lieve that  the  art  can  be  attained  by  them,  and 
therefore  they  never  try.  Gilbert  Stuart's  recipe 
for  teaching  young  painters  their  work  may 
be  commended  with  equal  confidence  to  young 
preachers.  '*  Teach  them  just  as  puppies  are 
taught  to  swim — chuck  them  in."  "How  shall  I 
learn  to  speak } "  some  one  inquired  of  Wendell 
Phillips,  to  receive  his  answer  in  two  words  only, 
"  Keep  speaking." 

2.  The  second  essential  to  success  is  attention 
to  health.  You  must  learn  to  keep  under  the 
body  and  bring  it  into  subjection  ;  to  play  the  man 
as  athlete,  walker,  bather  ;  and  to  '*  put  a  knife 
to  your  throat "  in  the  matter  of  diet  before 
speaking. 

3.  As  a  third  requisite  let  us  mention  regular 
habits  of  work.     At  least  one  full  hour  should  be 


ijohn  Hall,  D.  D.,  "God's  Word  through  Preaching,"  p.  272. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    SERMON  345 

set  apart  for  preparation  immediately  before  the 
delivery  of  the  sermon.  This  may  involve  early 
rising,  but  that  will  do  you  no  harm.  Be  alone 
previous  to  the  service;  keep  deacon  and  sexton 
at  arm's  length ;  and  see  no  visitors. 

4.  Of  still  greater  importance,  as  an  essential  to 
success,  is  your  rhetorical  preparation.  Again  we 
must  insist  that  no  effort  should  be  made  to  com- 
mit words.  Take  care  of  the  thought  and  the 
words  will  take  care  of  themselves. 

The  sermon  when  ready  for  delivery  may  be 
read  once  aloud,  and  if  there  is  a  mirror  in  the 
room  in  which  to  study  gesture  or  facial  expres- 
sion when  necessary,  so  much  the  better.  Once, 
certainly,  it  should  be  read  silently.  Pause  and 
recapitulate  as  point  after  point  is  gained.  Re- 
member Schiller's  maxim,  "You  do  not  know  a 
subject  thoroughly  until  you  can  play  with  it." 
This  process  of  infixing  the  sermon  on  the  mind  is 
not  a  serious  one.  "When  a  good  sermon  is  fin- 
ished on  Saturday,  a  reading  that  evening  and 
another  more  hurried  on  Sabbath  morning  is  suffi- 
cient." ^  Only  keep  at  it  until  you  have  completely 
mastered  the  discourse.  "  If  you  are  feeling  sure 
of  your  subject "  was  William  Jay's  experience, 
"  you  may  be  quite  sure  the  discourse  will  go  off 
well ;  the  hard  work  is  done  before  you  get  into 
the  pulpit ;  to  the  well-prepared  man  the  work  is 
easy  there." 

5.  The   fifth   essential    is    one    with   which    no 

ijohn  Hali,  D.  D. 


34^  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

preacher  can  start  out  on  his  course.  I  mean  pul- 
pit experience.  It  is  not  likely  that,  in  this 
method  of  delivery,  success  will  come  at  once.  On 
the  contrary,  the  preacher  who  adopts  it  may  be 
doomed  to  see  himself  for  a  time  outstripped  by 
his  comrades ;  and  there  may  be  moments  when 
he  is  tempted  to  fall  back  on  the  manuscript  which, 
like  charity,  never  faileth,  or  on  the  extempo- 
raneous address  which,  in  its  fluent  mediocrity, 
never  runs  dry.  Let  him  remember  Sir  Joshua 
Reynold's  wise  words,  ''  Excellence  is  never 
granted  to  men  but  as  the  reward  of  labor."  Do 
not  because  of  transient  despondency  abandon  this 
method  for  any  other  which  promises  greater  ease 
or  readier  and  more  immediate  success. 

(i)  Pulpit  experience  will  in  time  bring  ease. 
As  Emerson  says  shrewdly,  *'A  great  part  of 
courage  is  the  courage  of  having  done  the  thing 
before."  Learn  to  concentrate  your  mind  during 
the  delivery  of  your  sermons,  and  be  thankful  that 
previous  preparation  has  given  you  something  upon 
which  to  concentrate.  Beware  of  harboring  dissi- 
pating thought,  and  do  not  surrender  before  the 
distraction  of  accidental  occurrences.  The  young 
preacher  need  not  fear  nervousness  half  as  much 
as  he  needs  to  fear  the  lack  of  it.  "  I  am  now  an 
old  man,"  was  Luther's  confession,  ''and  I  have 
been  a  long  time  employed  in  the  business  of 
preaching,  but  I  never  ascend  the  pulpit  without 
trembling."  Yet  this  was  the  man  whose  words 
were  half-battles. 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE   SERMON  2>47 

(2)  With  pulpit  experience  will  come  not  only 
self-possession,  but  also  a  certain  sense  of  reality 
which  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  sermon  is  indeed 
a  part  of  yourself.  It  has  been  given  to  you  after 
personal  grappling  with  the  theme  and  personal 
labor  in  the  choice  of  words.  Not  "  I  have  my 
sermon,"  but  *'  I  am  my  sermon,"  is  now  your 
confident  persuasion.^ 

(3)  Further,  pulpit  experience  may  be  looked  to 
to  give  you  freedom  and  vividness  of  thought  and 
expression.  Your  mind  being  stimulated  as  your 
speech,  you  will  find  some  of  the  very  best  points 
in  the  sermon — sudden  felicities  of  thought  and 
language — come  to  you  for  the  first  time  as  you 
deliver  your  discourse.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  them. 
They  are  only  late-comers,  and  should  be  treated 
as  welcome  guests.  Put  out  your  hand  and  take 
them  into  the  ark.  The  Lord  has  neither  shut 
you  in,  nor  shut  them  out. 

(4)  I  should  add  that  pulpit  experience  is  also 
likely  to  bring  accuracy.  The  sermon  which  has 
been  prepared  with  a  conscience  has  surely  been 
deeply  impressed  on  your  mind.  It  has  reached 
the  memory  through  the  emotions,  and  therefore 
it  will  be  most  readily  reproduced  in  delivery, 
often  word  for  word. 

It  may  be  well  to  add  that  if  in  delivering  the 
sermon  you  should  find  it  hard  or  even  impossible 
to  recall  some  one  point,  it  will  be  best  to  make 
no  effort  to  recover  it.     Let  it  go.     What  you  for- 

^  Joseph  Parker,  D.  D.,  "^^  C/erum,"  p.  45. 


348  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

get  in  the  flow  of  speech  probably  ought  to  be  for- 
gotten. Your  mind  in  the  process  of  preaching  is 
likely  to  be  a  better  judge  as  to  this,  than  is  your 
mind  in  the  process  of  preparation.  The  point 
may  not  be  strictly  germane  to  your  subject ;  or  it 
may  never  have  been  welded  in  with  the  rest ;  or 
perhaps  it  may  not  have  become  yours  by  a  per- 
sonal apprehension  of  its  force  and  fitness.  An 
honored  preacher  of  our  own  time  confesses  that 
when  he  prepared  his  first  sermon  he  had  imported 
into  it  foreign  matter,  and  he  further  tells  us  how 
he  was  punished  for  doing  it.  "  A  sermon  must 
have  three  heads.  The  first  was  honestly  my  own, 
and  the  third,  but  I  stole  the  second  from  Mc- 
Cheyne.  I  had  no  notes,  and  when  I  came  to 
preach  my  sermon,  the  second  had  vanished  as 
completely  as  if  it  had  never  been  there ;  and  that 
was  the  first  and  last  time  I  ever  stole  even  part  of 
a  sermon."  In  proportion  as  our  material  is  our 
own,  by  discovery  and  arrangement,  shall  we  have 
it  at  our  command  when  we  come  to  deliver  our 
sermon. 

In  conclusion,  we  commend  the  composite 
method  for  five  reasons  : 

I.  First,  because  it  avoids  the  objections  which 
can  be  urged  against  the  methods  that  we  have 
been  considering.  The  delivery  of  the  sermon  is 
not  broken  by  manuscript ;  it  is  not  painful,  as  is 
too  often  the  case  with  a  memorized  discourse ; 
and  there  is  less  risk  of  its  becoming  careless  or 
ill-balanced  than  there  is  with  the  sermon  which  is 


THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE   SERMON  349 

entirely  extemporaneous.  "  This  is  an  age  in 
which  we  want  the  inspiration  of  the  extempo- 
rator,  gazing  face  to  face  at  his  hearers,  combined 
with  the  fullness  and  exactness  of  a  written  ser- 
mon. We  want  the  accuracy  and  finish  of  the 
written  discourse,  with  the  freshness  of  thought 
worked  out  in  the  presence  of  living  faces."  ^ 

2.  We  commend  it,  further,  because  it  seems  to 
combine  the  largest  number  of  excellencies.  As 
much  as  the  read  sermon  it  has  weight  and  exact- 
ness ;  as  much  as  the  memorized  sermon  it  has 
rhetorical  finish ;  and  as  much  as  the  extempora- 
neous sermon  it  has  ease  and  freshness  and 
fertility  of  resource. 

A  lord  chancelor  of  England  holds  that  since 
preaching  is  only  a  department  of  the  art  of  rheto- 
ric, sermons  ought  to  be  carefully  prepared,  and 
he  considers  that  '<the  best  sermons  are  those 
which  are  carefully  written  out,  and  afterward  de- 
livered as  if  extempore."  The  pulpit  agrees  with 
the  bar  in  this  decision,  at  least  it  does  so  in  the 
person  of  one  of  its  greatest  living  ornaments. 
Dr.  Joseph  Parker  thinks  that  young  preachers 
*'  should  write  their  sermons  with  the  greatest 
possible  care  and  industry,  and  then  put  them 
away  before  preaching." 

3.  We  commend  the  method  because  it  furnishes 
the  preacher  with  a  store  of  useful  material.  The 
sermon  is  not  lost.  We  should  however  be  care- 
ful on  each  occasion  of  its  re-delivery  to  work  it 

^  Davies,  "Successful  Preachers,"  p.  154. 


350       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

over  carefully,  and  enrich  it  with  the  fruits  of  our 
latest  reading  and  ripest  thought.  On  the  question 
of  recovering  what  has  been  prepared,  Dr.  John 
Hall  says,  "A  couple  of  hours  is  quite  enough  to 
repossess  one's  self  of  the  right  kind  of  sermon 
written  twenty  years  ago."  ^ 

4.  While  all  methods  of  delivery  are  unequal  we 
may  probably  claim  for  the  composite  plan  that  it 
insures  a  tolerably  uniform  level  of  excellence. 
From  the  sense  of  comparative  failure  no  preacher 
can  ever  be  completely  free,  and  there  will  no 
doubt  be  times  of  profound  depression  under  a 
conviction  that  the  failure  has  been  utter  and  un- 
relieved. But  considering  the  high  level  on  which 
the  composite  method  moves,  it  may  fairly  be 
affirmed  that  the  measure  of  uniformity  which  it 
reaches  in  (say)  a  year  of  preaching,  is  in  its  favor. 

5.  Finally,  we  commend  the  composite  method 
because  it  does  the  most  complete  justice  to  the 
great  work  of  preaching.  The  importance  of  our 
vocation  demands  the  exactness  of  written  prepa- 
ration. "  A  word  thoughtlessly  uttered  may  carry 
in  it  consequences  of  which  at  the  moment  we 
little  dream."  Equally,  however,  does  it  demand 
that  we  so  preach  that  human  nature  should  be 
most  powerfully  affected.  We  have  no  right  to 
dispense  with  the  reality,  directness,  and  power  of 
free  speech,  the  crown  and  flower  of  eloquence. 
Our  last  word  therefore  is  in  favor  of  accurate 
preparation  and  free  delivery. 

^  "God's  Word  Through  Preaching,"  p.  141. 


THE  PREACHER  AND  HIS  HEARER 


SUMMARY 


Eloquent  hearing  as  necessary  as  eloquent  speaking. 

I.  Importance  of  Obtaining  such  a  Hearing. 

1.  This  is  possible.     Illustrations  from  the  History  of  Preaching. 

2.  It  is  essential  to  our  doing  our  best  work. 

3.  Yet  there  are  hindrances  to  effectual  hearing  :   ( i )  A  natural 

repugnance  to  religion;  (2)  Natural  inattention  of  most 
hearers  ;  (3)  An  indisposition  to  think  consecutively  ;  (4) 
The  hearer's  lack  of  previous  information  as  to  the  subject 
of  the  discourse  ;  (5)  A  poor  sermon  or  a  prejudice  against 
the  preacher. 

II.  How  SUCH  a  Hearing  may  be  Obtained. 

1.  By  attention  to  the  preparation  of  the  sermon.     Prepare  it 

with  the  audience  in  view  :  (i)  In  the  choice  of  a  theme  ; 

(2)  In  the  composition  of  the  sermon  :  First,  interest. 
(a)  Do  not  create  a  feeling  of  distaste  ;  (d)  Aim  to  interest 
all  classes ;  Second,  instruct ;  Third,  convince ;  Fourth, 
inspire. 

2.  By  attention  to  the  delivery  of  the  sermon  :  (i)  It  should  be 

suitable  to  the  occasion;   (2)   It  should  be  sympathetic; 

(3)  It  should  be  earnest. 


XXIII 

THE  PREACHER  AND  HIS  HEARER 

Up  to  this  time  we  have  been  chiefly  interested 

in  the  preacher  and  his  sermon.     Before  we  close 

our  discussion    it  will   be  well  that 

,  .  1111  -1  1         Conclusion 

somethmg  should  be  said  as  to  the 

third  essential  to  a  successful  presentation  of  truth, 
I  mean  the  congregation.  Eloquent  hearing  is 
needed  to-day  no  less  than  is  eloquent  speaking. 
This  no  doubt  is  what  is  meant  by  the  injunction 
so  often  on  the  lips  of  Jesus,  "  He  that  hath  ears 
to  hear,  let  him  hear."^  When  Dr.  F.  J.  A.  Hort 
writes  of  F.  D.  Maurice,  *'  I  have  thought  for 
years  that  he  is  intelligible  and  profitable  to  a 
person  so  far  as  that  person  needs  him  and  no 
farther,"  he  expresses  a  truth  which  is  capable  of 
very  wide  application.  We  also  must  stimulate 
the  craving  for  truth,  and  alike  in  stimulating  and 
satisfying  we  shall  find  our  reward  in  what  for  our 
present  purpose  we  will  call  eloquent  hearing. 

I.  First,  then  let  us  glance  at  the  importance 
of  obtaining  an  attentive  and  responsive  hearing. 
How  important  this  is  will  be  evident  if  we  con- 
sider that  more  perhaps  than  any  other  form  of 
address    the    sermon    is    of    immediate    moment. 


1  Matt.  II  :  15  ;  Mark  4  ;  9,  23  ;  Luke  8  :  8. 

X  353 


354       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

Because,  as  Richard  Hooker  says,  the  sermon 
"spends  its  life  at  its  birth  " ;  with  the  preacher  it 
is  "now  or  never." 

I.  The  whole  history  of  the  Christian  pulpit 
furnishes  abundant  proof  that  it  is  possible  for  the 
preacher  to  obtain  the  hearing  of  which  we  are 
now  speaking.  Jesus  had  it.  Preaching  at  Naz- 
areth, in  his  early  ministry,  as  he  spoke,  the  eyes 
of  all  that  were  in  the  synagogue  were  fastened 
on  him ;  and  when  that  ministry  drew  to  its  close, 
as  he  walked  with  two  of  his  disciples  and  opened 
to  them  the  Scriptures,  their  hearts  burned  within 
them.^  The  apostles  and  first  preachers  had  it. 
To  this  the  sermons  of  Peter  and  Paul,  recorded 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  bear  witness.  Later 
preachers  have  had  it  also.  "  Better  that  the  sun 
should  cease  to  shine,"  cried  the  throngs  at  Con- 
stantinople, "than  that  our  Chrysostom's  mouth 
should  be  stopped."  As  Savonarola  exposes  the 
evils  which  threaten  Florence,  the  disciple  who  is 
taking  notes  of  his  master's  discourse  can  write 
no  longer.  "At  this  place  I  was  so  overcome  by 
weeping  that  I  could  not  go  on."  The  church- 
wardens of  St.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster, 
find  themselves  under  the  necessity  of  paying  the 
carpenter  "  for  mending  of  divers  pews  that  were 
broken  when  Dr.  Latimer  did  preach."  A  Cam- 
bridge student  gives  a  boy  a  few  half-pence  to 
hold  his  horse  while  he  follows  a  crowd  of  peas- 
ants on  the  village  green  who  are  flocking  to  hear 

^  Luke  4  :  20 ;  Luke  24  :  32. 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  355 

"one  Bunyan,  a  tinker,  prate."  As  he  listens  he 
vows  that  he  wishes  never  to  hear  any  other 
preacher  than  he.  To  the  Connecticut  farmer 
pushing  his  way  to  the  place  where  Whitefield  is 
preaching  "  like  one  of  the  old  aposels,"  "  every 
horse  seemed  to  go  with  all  his  might  to  carry  his 
rider  to  hear  the  good  news  from  heaven  for  the 
saving  of  their  souls." 

2.  Such  a  hearing  is  essential  if  our  ministry  is 
to  do  its  best  work.  The  minister  shows  his  wis- 
dom when  he  guards  against  the  subtle  and  plausi- 
ble vanity  "which  courts  a  compliment  or  is  fed 
by  it."  When  some  one  told  John  Bunyan  at  the 
close  of  a  religious  service  that  he  had  preached  a 
good  sermon,  the  answer  was  *'Yes,  the  devil  told 
me  that  before  I  came  down  from  the  pulpic." 
'<It  is  not  good,"  says  manly  Phillips  Brooks, 
**  that  the  minister  should  be  worshiped  and 
made  an  oracle.  It  is  still  worse  that  he  should 
be  flattered  and  made  a  pet."  But  the  knowledge 
that  in  his  congregation  he  has  devout  and  intelli- 
gent hearers  who  listen  for  his  sake  as  well  as  for 
their  own,  is  unspeakably  helpful  to  the  preacher 
if  he  is  a  true  man.  Happy  indeed  is  he  who  can 
with  reason  cherish  it.  John  Foster,  detailing  to 
a  correspondent  his  early  experience  in  the  pulpit, 
writes :  ''  I  have  involuntarily  caught  a  habit  of 
looking  too  much  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the 
meeting.  'Tis  on  account  of  about  half  a  dozen 
sensible  fellows  who  sit  together  there."  To  his 
friend   John   Greene,  Robert    Hall   said,  with   his 


3  5^  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

wonted  frankness,  "  O  sir,  I  could  always  tell 
when  my  people  were  pleased  and  when  the  sub- 
ject told,  from  their  manner  of  hearing."  It  was 
the  general  fervor  of  the  congregations  which  gave 
such  acceptance  to  the  sermons  of  the  preachers 
during  the  evangelical  awakening  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  this  in  a  large  measure  accounts  for 
the  eagerness  with  which  discourses  were  then  re- 
ceived, which  are  "  curiously  flat,  formal,  and  un- 
impressive" to  us  when  we  occasionally  disturb 
the  dust  of  a  century  in  order  to  get  at  them. 
Spurgeon  reveals  the  secret  of  their  efficacy  when 
he  says,  "  I  have  listened  to  many  sermons  from 
preachers  called  poor,  in  all  corners  of  the  country, 
and  I  never  heard  one  which  did  not  teach  me 
something,  if  I  was  in  the  spirit  to  profit  by  it." 
The  mediaeval  legend  commemorates  a  popular 
preacher  under  whose  sermons  numbers  were  con- 
verted, and  to  whom  it  was  revealed  that  not  to 
what  he  said  were  these  effects  due  so  much  as  to 
the  prayers  of  a  poor  and  obscure  peasant  who  sat 
on  the  pulpit  steps,  and  poured  out  his  heart  in 
prayer  for  a  blessing  on  the  message  which  was 
being  delivered.  And  George  Herbert,  in  his  own 
quaint  way,  points  our  thoughts  even  higher  than 
the  pulpit  steps  when  he  sings  of  preachers : 

The  worst  speaks  something  good  ;  if  all  lack  sense, 
God  takes  a  text  and  preacheth  patience. 

3.  Yet  it  is  evident   that   there  are   many  hin- 
drances in  the  way  of  this  effectual  hearing.      Let 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  35/ 

US  inquire  what  causes  conduce  to  make  it  a  thing 
so  rare  to  find  and  so  hard  to  retain  as  it  seems  to 
be. 

(i)  Perhaps  we  must  mention  first  among  these, 
a  natural  repugnance  to  reUgion.  To  a  parishioner 
who  told  Archbishop  Whately  that  he  thought  a 
person  should  not  go  to  church  to  be  made  un- 
comfortable, the  apt  reply  was,  that  while  this  was 
true,  yet  whether  it  was  the  sermon  or  the  man's 
life  that  should  be  altered  so  as  to  avoid  the  dis- 
comfort must  depend  on  whether  the  doctrine  was 
right  or  wrong.  And  be  it  remembered  that, 
however  much  the  claims  of  religion  are  neglected, 
despised,  or  challenged,  it  has  remained  an  incon- 
trovertible fact  all  through  time  that  there  is  no 
other  subject  of  such  widespread,  profound,  and 
abiding  interest  as  religion. 

(2)  Something  should  also  be  granted  on  ac- 
count of  the  natural  inattention  of  most  hearers. 
No  doubt  the  great  preachers  to  whom  we  have 
referred  succeeded  in  absorbing  the  attention  of 
their  congregations  so  that  for  the  time  they 
held  them  spell-bound;  but  the  large  majority  of 
speakers,  whether  from  pulpit  or  platform  or  stage, 
have  this  trouble  of  inattention  to  contend  with. 
The  mind  is  very  easily  turned  aside  by  external 
circumstances.  Even  Chrysostom  needs  to  re- 
monstrate :  "  I  am  expounding  the  Scriptures,  and 
you  all  turn  your  eyes  to  the  lamps,  and  to  him 
who  is  lighting  them.  What  negligence  is  this  to 
forsake   me,  and   fix  your  minds  on  him!"     But 


358        THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

Chrysostom  should  have  understood  human  nature 
better  than  to  lose  his  temper.  Sydney  Smith 
wittily  said  what  every  preacher  knows  to  be  true : 
**A  sparrow  fluttering  about  the  church  is  an 
antagonist  which  the  most  profound  theologian  in 
Europe  is  wholly  unable  to  overcome."  There  is 
a  certain  sequence  in  the  very  inconsequence  of 
Samuel  Pepys  when  he  wrote  in  his  diary  one 
Lord's  Day  in  January,  1660:  ''To  church  in  the 
afternoon,  where  a  lazy  poor  sermon.  This  day  I 
began  to  put  on  buckles  to  my  shoes."  A  little 
later  when  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  looks  over  a  Lon- 
don congregation,  he  says  in  his  gruff  way :  "  The 
men  are  thinking  of  their  money,  I  suppose,  and 
the  women  of  their  mops."  Even  courteous  Long- 
fellow has  to  acknowledge  to  himself  in  his  jour- 
nal:  "I  cannot  always  listen  to  the  clergyman." 
Luther  preached  a  duty  which  he  himself  would 
have  been  the  last  man  to  practise  when  he  said : 
**  If  God  speaketh  to  thee  as  he  did  to  Balaam — 
by  the  mouth  of  an  ass — thou  must  have  so  much 
patience  as  to  hear  him."  With  much  more  reason 
Professor  Huxley,  who  had  not  the  hearing  of 
sermons  in  mind  either,  wrote  :  "  An  ineradicable 
tendency  to  think  of  something  else  makes  me  an 
excellent  test-object  for  orators."  Probably  in  the 
discussions  which  are  periodically  waged  on  the 
decline  of  the  pulpit,  not  enough  allowance  has 
been  made  for  obstacles  to  good  hearing  other 
than  those  which  are  furnished  by  either  the 
preacher  or  the  discourse.      Something   needs   to 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  359 

be  said  as  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  hearer, 
and  still  more  on  the  state  of  mind  in  which  he 
comes  to  church.  The  heavy  meal,  the  hurried 
pace  due  to  Sunday  lateness,  the  multifarious  and 
often  ignoble  contents  of  the  morniiag  newspaper, 
a  thermometer  which  registers  in  the  eighties,  a 
close,  ill-ventilated  building,  these  are  hindrances 
to  effectual  hearing  for  which  no  preacher  ought 
to  be  held  wholly  responsible. 

(3)  To  this  may  be  added  a  certain  inability  to 
think  long  upon  any  one  subject.  The  spirit  of 
Martha  may  enter  into  Mary  at  the  very  time  when 
she  sits  at  the  Master's  feet.  With  its  many  petty 
details,  much  serving  diverts  the  mind  from  much 
thinking.  It  is  not  so  much  lack  of  interest  in 
the  subject  upon  which  the  preacher  is  speaking 
as  it  is  lack  of  power  to  think  on  anything  what- 
ever consecutively.  James  Mill,  for  so  many  years 
in  the  service  of  the  East  India  Company,  says 
that  his  intercourse  with  the  directors  taught  him 
to  cultivate  "the  mode  of  putting  a  thought  which 
gives  it  easiest  admittance  into  minds  not  pre- 
pared for  it  by  habit."  The  majority  of  devout 
persons  in  our  congregations  have  probably  felt 
much  more  than  they  have  thought  about  religion, 
and  sometimes  they  seem  to  resent  an  appeal  to 
their  intelligence  almost  as  though  they  suspected 
the  preacher  of  an  attempt  to  impose  upon  them 
a  duty  which  they  have  paid  him  to  perform  for 
them. 

(4)  We  need,  further,  to  make  full  allowance  for 


360  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

the  fact  that  as  a  rule  the  hearer  is  entir^iy  in  the 
dark  as  to  what  subject  the  preacher  has  selected 
for  his  discourse.  What  he  has  been  revolving 
for  a  week,  is  to  the  congregation  altogether  new. 
It  is  unreasonable  to  expect  that  they  will  be  able 
at  once,  on  the  announcing  of  his  text  and  theme, 
to  adapt  their  pace  to  his.  He  moves  with  the 
velocity  acquired  by  hours  of  previous  study.  Dr. 
R.  W.  Dale,  it  is  said,  allowed  himself  fifteen  years 
to  get  a  new  idea  into  the  minds  of  his  congrega- 
tion ;  and  yet  as  a  consequence  of  long  and  careful 
listening  to  the  best  kind  of  sermons,  his  people 
were  better  prepared  than  are  most  hearers  to 
grasp  a  thought  and  apprehend  its  various  bear- 
ings. 

(5)  Honesty  compels  me  to  add  that  a  poor  ser- 
mon or  perhaps  a  not  altogether  groundless  preju- 
dice against  the  preacher  himself,  may  account  for 
his  not  gaining  the  attention  of  a  congregation. 
An  uninteresting  theme,  or  unworthy  treatment  of 
it,  an  awkward  or  unseemly  delivery,  a  failure  on 
the  part  of  the  speaker  to  commend  himself  to  his 
hearers — are  all  of  them  obstacles  to  be  numbered 
among  the  hindrances  to  effectual  hearing. 

In  what  has  been  said  under  this  divison  of  oui 
subject  my  aim  has  been  to  impress  the  preacher 
alike  with  the  importance  and  the  difficulty  of 
winning  "the  hearing  ear,"  Unquestionably  it  is 
one  of  the  prime  elements  in  his  power  in  the  pul- 
pit. We  refuse  to  take  Luther  seriously  when  he 
says  that  as  he  stands  in  the  pulpit  he  imagines 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  36 1 

that  all  heads  before  him  are  simply  blocks  of 
wood.  To  think  that  would  be  fatal  to  successful 
speech.  Cicero's  maxim  is  perpetually  true,  ^^  Non 
est  magnus  orator  sine  midtitiidine  atidiente.''  As 
an  orator,  Mr.  Gladstone  rarely  failed  to  illustrate 
his  own  words,  "The  speaker  receives  from  his 
audience  in  a  vapor  what  he  pours  back  on  them 
in  a  flood."  Beecher  is  of  the  same  mind:  "An 
audience  always  puts  me  in  possession  of  every- 
thing I  have  got.  There  is  nothing  in  the  world 
that  is  such  a  stimulus  to  me.  It  wakes  up  the 
power  of  thinking  and  of  imagination  in  me." 
The  man  who  listens  to  a  discourse  which, 
although  probably  in  words  far  better  than  he 
could  command,  expresses  his  own  experience,  or 
perhaps  discovers  to  him  some  train  of  thought 
which  has  been  in  his  own  mind  before,  although 
he  was  only  dimly  conscious  of  its  presence,  seems 
all  the  while  to  be  hearing  his  own  better  self. 
This  was  what  the  church-goers  of  an  earlier  gen- 
eration meant  when  they  said  in  commendation  of 
a  sermon  that  they  "heard  well"  ;  audit  is  what 
Lowell  puts  into  homely  verse  when  he  writes : 

To  him  'tis  granted 
Always  to  say  the  word  that' s  wanted, 
So  that  he  seems  but  speaking  clearer 
The  tip-top  thought  of  every  hearer. 

11.  How  may  such  a  hearing  be  obtained } 
Briefly,  we  answer.  By  paying  the  proper  attention 
to  the  preparation  and  delivery  of  the  sermon. 


362  THE    MAKING    OF    THE    SERMON 

I.  In  dealing  first  with  the  preparation  of  the 
sermon  let  me  repeat  that  the  preacher  must 
learn  to  prepare  it  with  his  audience  in  view. 

(i)  Do  this,  for  one  thing,  in  the  choice  of  your 
theme.  Take  subjects  upon  which  either  light  or 
leading  is  needed.  Select  topics  that  are  of  im- 
mediate interest.  "The  man  who  is  out  of  gear 
with  his  own  times,  cannot  interest  others."  ^ 
Learn  to  set  aside  your  own  tastes  and  instead  to 
consult  those  of  what  Phillips  Brooks  happily  calls 
that  ''strange  composite  being,  the  congregation." 
Remember  that  the  limitations  of  Scripture  are 
the  only  boundaries  which  you  need  to  respect  in 
this  important  matter  of  finding  something  to 
speak  about.  Be  like  the  Scottish  preacher  of 
whom  it  is  written :  "  He  stood  always  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  but  from  that  center  he  swept  the 
circumference  of  active  life."^  By  all  means  let 
your  selection  be  made  with  an  eye  to  the  highest 
interests  of  the  congregation.  Commenting  on 
the  words  "  For  you  Gentiles,"  ^  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale 
notes  how  they  suggest  the  personal  element  in 
Paul's  work.  "  It  was  for  the  sake  of  persons — 
Gentiles,  living  men  and  women — that  he  preached 
the  gospel,  and  for  their  sakes  he  was  a  prisoner." 
And  then  he  adds :  "  In  a  book  on  preaching  by  a 
distinguished  French  priest,  which  I  read  some 
years  ago,  it  was  laid  down  as  the  first  essential 
that  the   preacher   should   love  his   congregation. 

^  Bishop  Fraser,  Manchester,  England. 
2  Dr.  W.  Anderson,  Glasgow.  •*  Eph.  3:1. 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  363 

There  is  truth  in  that."  So  to  a  popular  preacher 
with  whom  he  was  conversing,  Doctor  Bonar  said, 
"You  love  to  preach,  don't  you?"  and  when  he 
received  the  answer,  "  Yes,  I  do,^'  put  this  further 
question,  ''  But  do  you  love  the  men  to  whom  you 
preach? "  It  is  this  affectionate  solicitude  for  the 
true  interests  of  his  congregation  that  we  catch  in 
Andrew  Fuller's  soliloquy  in  his  study: 

I  am  expected  to  preach,  it  may  be,  to  some  hundreds  of 
people,  some  of  whom  may  come  several  miles  to  hear  ; 
and  what  have  I  to  say  to  them  ?  Is  it  for  me  to  sit  here 
studying  a  text  merely  to  find  something  to  say  to  fill  up 
the  hour  ?  I  may  do  this  without  imparting  any  useful  in- 
struction, without  commending  myself  to  any  man's  con- 
science, and  without  winning,  or  even  aiming  to  win,  one 
soul  to  Christ.  It  is  possible  there  may  be  in  the  audience 
a  poor  miserable  creature,  laboring  under  the  load  of  a 
guilty  conscience.  If  he  depart  without  being  told  how  to 
obtain  rest  for  his  soul,  what  may  be  the  consequence  ? 
Or,  it  may  be,  some  stranger  may  be  there  who  has  never 
heard  the  way  of  salvation  in  his  life.  If  he  should  depart 
without  hearing  it  now,  and  should  die  before  another  op- 
portunity occurs,  how  shall  I  meet  him  at  the  bar  of  God  ? 
Possibly  some  one  of  my  constant  hearers  may  die  in  the 
following  week  ;  and  is  there  nothing  I  should  wish  to  say 
to  him  before  his  departure  ?  It  may  be  that  I  myself  may 
die  before  another  Lord' s  Day  :  this  may  be  the  last  time 
that  I  shall  ascend  the  pulpit ;  and  have  I  no  important 
testimony  to  leave  with   the  people  of  my  care  ? 

He  who  girds  himself  for  his  task  in  such  a 
spirit  as  this  will  not  fail  to  preach  sermons  in 
which  as  Longfellow  said,  "One  can  hear  the 
heart  beat." 


364       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

(2)  The  preacher  should  also  realize  his  audi- 
ence in  the  composition  of  his  sermon.  There 
are  four  things  certainly  which  you  should  aim  to 
do  in  every  discourse  that  you  compose.  Let  me 
enumerate  them.  First,  interest  your  hearers.  I 
put  this  first  because  unless  a  sermon  interests,  it 
fails  to  receive  attention,  and  no  profit  can  come 
from  it.  Like  the  picture  in  the  gallery  which 
catches  no  eye,  it  is  there  and  yet  not  there. 
What  Wilkie  Collins  says  of  books  is  just  as  true 
of  sermons.  ''  I  never  get  any  good  out  of  a  book 
that  did  not  interest  me  in  the  first  instance." 
On  the  other  hand,  what  a  testimony  Arthur  Stan- 
ley, then  a  schoolboy  of  fourteen  at  Rugby,  paid 
to  Doctor  Arnold's  power  to  interest,  when,  after 
hearing  him  preach,  he  returned  to  his  room,  and 
wrote  the  sermon  out  from  memory.  In  the  com- 
position of  your  sermon,  therefore,  do  nothing  to 
offend  a  reasonable  taste.  Choose  your  words  so 
as  to  respect  the  proper  limit  of  pulpit  discourse. 
Handle  solemn  subjects  with  solemnity,  and  deli- 
cate subjects  delicately.  Often  suggest  rather 
than  paint.  Leave  the  imagination  to  supply  de- 
tails when  physical  conditions  are  to  be  touched 
upon.  Nothing  can  be  more  repulsive  than  an 
elaborate  description  of  the  crucifixion,  or  of  the 
suffering  on  a  death-bed,  or  of  the  terrors  and  tor- 
ments of  the  lost. 

Let  it  be  your  ambition  to  interest  all  classes  of 
hearers.  Aiming  below  rather  than  above  the 
average  intelligence  of  your  congregation,  see  to 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  365 

it  that  thought  is  clear  and  language  plain.  In- 
stead of  saying  '*  Do  you  understand  me?" — 
implying  that  there  is  a  lack  of  quickness  on  the 
part  of  your  hearers,  say  rather,  "  Do  I  make  my- 
self understood?"  and  so  lay  the  blame  of  obscurity 
where  in  all  likelihood  it  belongs.  No  doubt  it  is 
"the  mixture  of  people  who  are  to  be  fed  with  the 
same  food  which  in  reality  constitutes  the  great 
difficulty  of  sermons."  ^  But  this  difficulty  may 
be  met  and  overcome  if  you  remember  to  appeal 
in  your  sermon  to  the  intuitions  of  the  soul,  to  the 
dictates  of  the  conscience,  and  to  the  practical 
habits  of  daily  life.  These  three — aspiration,  right- 
eousness, usefulness — if  they  are  well  handled 
never  fail  to  touch  the  great  majority  of  those  who 
are  listening  to  you.  It  is  not  enough,  however, 
to  interest.  You  must,  secondly,  endeavor  to  in- 
struct. "  The  only  real  point  of  preaching,"  as 
Francis  de  Sales  says,  "is  the  overthrow  of  sin 
and  the  increase  of  righteousness."  And  yet  in 
order  to  attain  to  this  consummation  we  need  to  re- 
gard, first  of  all,  the  truth  of  what  we  are  saying, 
and  then,  as  a  secondary  matter,  the  effect  which 
we  think  it  will  produce.^  By  all  means  have  a 
distinct  purpose  in  each  sermon  that  you  compose. 
Pulpit  power  comes  not  as  a  cause  but  as  a  conse- 
quence. It  follows  from  first  enriching  the  hearer 
with  knowledge.  "  Feed  the  flock  of  God."  It  is 
indeed  well  that  the  intellect  be  reached  by  way 

*  Bishop  Harvey  Goodwin. 
'Nettleship,  "  Moral  Influence  of  Literature, "  p.  18. 


366  THE    MAKING    OF   THE   SERMON 

of  the  heart ;  but  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be 
reached  somehow.  Our  congregations  have  minds 
as  well  as  hearts.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  does 
well  to  warn  us  against  too  hastily  assuming  that 
in  what  would  be  considered  an  intelligent  congre- 
gation "  all  the  members  are  well-informed  per- 
sons." It  is  far  wiser  courteously  to  assume  that 
our  congregations  are  ignorant  as  to  the  matters 
about  which  we  discourse  in  the  pulpit,  than  com- 
plimentarily  to  assume  that  they  are  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  them.  There  is  always  more 
advantage  when  we  presume  upon  ignorance  than 
there  is  when  we  presume  upon  knowledge. 

While  interesting  and  instructing,  the  preacher, 
during  the  composition  of  his  sermon,  should  also, 
thirdly,  aim  to  convince.  I  may  be  allowed  to 
quote  again  from  Francis  de  Sales.  His  father, 
who  had  very  lofty  conceptions  of  the  dignity  of 
sermons,  remonstrated  with  his  son  for  preaching 
often.  "  Even  on  week  days  the  bells  go.  It  used 
not  to  be  so  in  my  day.  Sermons  were  much 
rarer.  But  then,  to  be  sure,  God  knows  those 
were  something  like  sermons — full  of  learning, 
well  got  up,  more  Latin  and  Greek  in  one  than 
you  stick  into  a  dozen."  The  answer  of  Francis 
gives  us  the  key  to  his  great  success  as  a  mis- 
sionary preacher :  "  My  test  of  the  worth  of  a 
preacher  is  when  his  congregation  go  away  saying 
not  'what  a  beautiful  sermon,'  but  *I  will  do  some- 
thing.' "  If  this  impulse  to  do  something  is  the 
evidence  that  the  preacher  has  persuaded  by  con- 


THE    PREACHER    AND    HIS    HEARER  367 

vmcing,  the  most  solid  and  satisfactory  results  will 
be  likely  to  follow.  The  hearer  will  be  built  up, 
and  will  continue  in  the  faith  as  one  who  is 
grounded  and  settled.  ^  *'  It  was  said  of  Dr.  R. 
W.  Dale,  as  contrasted  with  his  predecessor,  John 
Angell  James,  that  while  they  both  aimed  to  per- 
suade, the  older  man  would  use  any  method  in 
order  to  succeed  in  doing  this,  while  the  younger 
"  believed  that  no  persuasion  was  of  lasting  value 
which  was  not  based  on  intellectual  conviction." 

If  you  interest,  instruct,  and  convince  your 
hearers,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  fourth  requisite 
to  a  successful  sermon  will  not  be  wanting  in  your 
composition.  It  will  inspire.  Is  not  this  where 
so  many  sermons  fail  ?  They  do  not  quicken, 
stimulate,  and  uplift.  So  congregations  complain 
that  with  all  its  excellence  the  discourse  is  often 
a  weariness  to  the  flesh,  and  the  satirist,  incarnat- 
ing the  sermon,  puts  his  own  sneer  into  its  lips : 

With  sacred  dullness  ever  in  my  view, 
Sleep  at  my  bidding  creeps  from  pew  to  pew. 

This  power  to  rouse,  this  vitality  which  makes  the 
sermon,  as  Luther  says,  "a  thing  with  hands  and 
feet,"  will  come  as  a  consequence  of  the  oratorical 
temperament  of  the  speaker,  and  of  the  skillful 
choice  which  he  makes  of  his  material  for  pulpit 
use,  and  of  the  lofty  plane  which  he  assumes  in 
his  ministry  and  the  momentous  themes  upon 
which  he  discourses,  and  of  the  spiritual  power, 

1  Col.  I  :  23. 


368       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

the  unction  from  on  high,  which  he  himself  enjoys. 
So  preaching  will  become  not  only  what  Vinet 
called  it,  '*an  action,"  but  what  he  himself  often 
succeeded  in  making  it,  an  inspiration. 

2.  The  eloquent  hearing  depends  not  alone  on 
the  preparation  of  the  sermon.  As  much,  and 
perhaps  more,  it  depends  on  its  delivery. 

(i)  For  one  thing,  the  delivery  of  the  sermon 
should  be  suitable  to  the  occasion.  Pulpit  de- 
corum— the  taste  which  is  so  grateful  when  it  is 
found  and  the  lack  of  which  many  of  our  hearers 
perceive  although  unable  to  account  for  their 
feeling  of  dissatisfaction — has  not  been  sufficiently 
considered  in  enumerating  the  elements  of  a 
preacher's  power  or  the  secret  of  his  failure.  It 
is  possible  that  a  deficiency  in  early  training,  or 
some  personal  peculiarities,  or  a  natural  indiffer- 
ence to  minor  matters,  m;^y  make  the  word  as  we 
preach  it  unfruitful.  Neglect  no  legitimate  means 
which  lie  in  your  power  for  seeing  yourself  as 
others  see  you.  Never  suffer  yourself  to  become 
careless  as  to  what  may  seem  only  trifles  in  your 
pulpit  manners.  Abstain  from  allusions  to  your- 
self. Assume  no  ministerial  airs  or  pulpit  tone  of 
brief  authority.  Above  all,  aim  to  be  hidden  be- 
hind your  theme  in  the  spirit  of  one  whose  highest 
honor  it  is  to  preach  not  himself  but  Christ  Jesus 
his  Lord.  No  pulpit  is  small  enough  for  the 
preacher  who  brings  into  it  himself  alone,  and 
none  large  enough  for  him  who  brings  into  it  not 
himself  but  his  Master.     Here  let  me  add  as  a 


THE  PREACHER  AND  HIS  HEARER      369 

practical  suggestion  that  in  addressing  your  audi- 
ence you  use  no  one  form  invariably,  and  any  form 
sparingly.  The  Scripture  terms,  "My  friends,"^ 
My  "brethren,"^  ''Men  and  brethren,"^  ''Sirs,"* 
will  probably  answer  all  ordinary  purposes. 

(2)  While  the  preacher's  delivery  should  be 
suitable  to  the  occasion,  it  is  equally  important 
that  it  should  be  sympathetic.  Assume  that  your 
hearers  have  come  prepared  to  listen,  as  on  your 
part  you  have  come  prepared  to  speak.  ^  Be 
more  and  more  in  touch  with  your  congregation 
as  the  discourse  proceeds.  At  first  it  is  natural 
that  you  should  be  concerned  chiefly  with  the  ser- 
mon, but  as  you  warm  to  that  you  should  find 
yourself  coming  into  closer  and  closer  contact 
with  all  who  are  listening  to  you.  If  the  first 
third  of  the  half-hour  belongs  to  the  sermon  and 
the  congregation,  the  two-thirds  which  remain 
should  belong  rather  to  the  congregation  and  the 
sermon.  Happy  is  the  preacher  who  is  able  to 
individualize  his  hearers,  so  that  each  one  believes 
that  he  himself  is  especially  addressed.  An  honest 
scholar  hearing  Zwingli  preach,  felt  ''as  if  the 
preacher  was  pulling  him  by  the  hair."  As  he 
spoke,  the  congregation  would  often  grow  restless 
under  the  spell  of  this  conviction,  and  sometimes 
one  and  another  would  even  make  his  resentment 
manifest.  "  Neighbor,"  Zwingli  would  interpose, 
"I  did  not  mean  it  for  thee  more  than  for  myself." 

^Luke  12  :  4.      ''Acts  3  :  17.      ^  Acts  I  :  16.       *  Acts  14  :  15. 
^  Acts  26  :  I. 
Y 


370       THE  MAKING  OF  THE  SERMON 

Of  Rowland  Hill  it  was  said,  in  the  same  way, 
that  if  you  sat  in  the  back  seat  in  the  gallery  while 
he  was  preaching,  you  would  be  persuaded  that 
what  he  said  was  directed  especially  to  you.  No 
doubt  this  effect  is  due  in  part  to  a  sympathetic 
tone  in  the  voice,  but  far  more  is  it  owing  to  a 
sympathetic  chord  in  the  heart. 

(3)  So,  in  conclusion,  I  would  say,  let  your 
manner  be  earnest  as  well  as  suitable  and  sympa- 
thetic. Avoid  all  flippancy,  jesting,  and  trifling. 
Covet  the  ''blood  earnestness"  which  character- 
ized Bunyan  and  Whitefield,  Jonathan  Edwards 
and  Thomas  Chalmers.  Preach  as  did  Francis  of 
Assisi,  ''  compelled  by  the  imperious  need  of 
kindling  others  with  the  flame  that  burned  within 
himself  "  ;  and  as  did  Richard  Baxter, 

As  though  he  ne'  er  would  preach  again, 
And  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men.'* 

Thus  will  you  belong  to  the  last  of  the  three 
classes  into  which  Archbishop  Magee  divided 
preachers:  First,  the  preacher  you  cannot  listen 
to ;  second,  the  preacher  you  can  listen  to ;  third, 
the  preacher  you  cannot  help  listening  to  ;  and  by 
you — dealing  with  a  loftier  theme  and  speaking 
for  a  vaster  future — the  tribute  which  Ben  Jonson 
pays  to  Lord  Bacon  may  be  not  undeserved :  "  No 
man  ever  spoke  more  neatly,  more  pressly,  more 
weightily,  or  suffered  less  emptiness,  less  idleness 
in  what  he  uttered.  The  fear  of  every  man  who 
heard  him  was  lest  he  should  make  an  end." 


INDEX 


Addison,  quoted,  248. 

Address,  forms  of  homiletic,  369. 

"Afflatus,"  Bishop  Wilberforce 
and  Chalmers  upon,  195. 

Age,  Its  temper  should  be  known 
to  preacher,  231. 

Aim  of  a  sermon:  to  interest, 
361;  to  instruct,  365;  to  con- 
vince, 366 ;  to  inspire,  367. 

Alexander,  J.  A.,  his  judgment  of 
a  sermon,  59. 

Alexander,  J.  W. :  considering 
text-preaching  imperfectly  ex- 
pository, 84 ;  on  treating  doc- 
trines practically,  125,  126;  on 
peril  of  "converse  with  evil" 
on  any  ground,  128. 

Alliteration,  accidental,  to  be 
avoided,  80. 

America,  influence  of  the  sermon 
in,  139. 

Analysis  of  texts :  its  nature,  66, 
67 ;  exemplified,  67. 

Anderson,  Dr.  W.  (Edinburgh),  a 
testimony  to,  362. 

"  Anecdotage,"  264. 

Anecdote  and  story  in  sermon : 
story  preferable,  264 ;  both  re- 
quire caution  in  use,  264  ;  re- 
quire skill  in  use,  264 ;  are  ef- 
fective, 264  ;  Emerson  upon,  264. 

Angelo,  Michael :  an  anatomist 
that  he  might  be  a  sculptor, 
158;  his  "angel  in  the  block" 
too  trite,  265. 

Angus,  Dr.  Joseph :  on  apostolic 
preaching,  18 ;  on  probability, 
236. 

Application  :  should  thread  a  dis- 
course, 179 ;  should  conclude  to 


some  extent  every  discourse, 
179. 
Argument  in  preaching :  its  place 
in  the  sermon,  225 ;  used  by  Je- 
sus, the  apostles,  and  the  early 
preachers,  225  ;  employed  in  the 
church  afterward,  226;  should 
be  in  every  sermon,  227 ;  should 
clarify  statement,  227 ;  should 
secure  logical  consistency,  228 ; 
should  be  characteristic  of  some 
sermons,  230;  should  be  in  ser- 
mons preached  at  critical  times, 
231 ;  should  be  employed  about 
positive  truth,  232 ;  should  be 
persuasive,  232 ;  should  be  in- 
tended to  produce  proper  im- 
pression, 233 ;  its  effects  should 
be  watched,  233,  234 ;  is  founded 
on  testimony,  234 ;  is  founded 
on  analogy,  234,  235  ;  is  founded 
on  cause  and  effect,  235,  236 ; 
is  founded  on  cumulative  evi- 
dence, 236 ;  is  founded  on  expe- 
rience, 236 ;  absence  of,  in  ser- 
mon a  serious  defect,  239 ;  should 
be  shaped  by  mental  pecci- 
liarity  of  sermonizer,  240 ;  is 
improved  by  argumentative 
studies,  240,  241 ;  is  assisted  by 
frequent  composition,  241 ;  is 
never  to  be  undertaken  for  its 
own  sake,  242;  is  never  to  be 
used  on  trivialities,  243 ;  should 
be  employed  as  little  as  possible 
in  early  ministry,  244 ;  has  its 
limits,  245,  246  ;  one  should  bi; 
acquainted  with  matters  on 
which  one  purposes  its  employ- 
ment, 246,  247 ;   should  be  con- 

371 


372 


INDEX 


ducted  with  urbanity,  247,  248; 
should  be  entered  into  as  little 
as  possible  with  other  evangel- 
ical denominations,  248,  249 ; 
must  not  monopolize  any  ser- 
mon, 249,  250;  makes  its  final 
appeal  to  Scripture,  250. 

Argyle,  Duke  of,  on  value  of  anal- 
ysis, 219. 

Arnold,  Dr.  Thomas :  his  advice, 
134  ;  his  "  Essay  on  Interpreta- 
tion of  Scripture"  referred  to. 
212. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  his  epigram  on 
the  New  Testament  revisers,  217. 

Ascham,  Roger,  his  rule  of  speech, 
10. 

Augustine,  (St.):  an  expositor, 
85  ;  maxims  of,  202,  325. 

Bacon,  Francis,  (Lord) :  on  writ- 
ing, 340 ;  Ben  Jonson  on,  370. 

Bacon,  Roger,  (Friar),  on  exposi- 
tion in  thirteenth  century,  90. 

Baxter,  Richard  :  length  of  his  ser- 
mons, 187  ;  method  of  studying 
his  text,  24  ;  his  practice  in  the 
pulpit,  327. 

Bearing,  one's  general,  in  pulpit, 
to  be  heeded,  298. 

Beecher,  H.  \V. :  on  preaching,  10; 
on  being  exclusively  "a  fisher 
of  men,"  12  ;  on  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  15 ;  notes  of  one  of  his 
sermon-plans,  121 ;  a  saying  of, 
204 ;  his  suggestiveness,  261 ;  a 
powerful  metaphor  of,  262;  his 
method  of  preparing  for  pulpit, 
328. 

Beecher,  Lyman,  Dr.,  on  the  tears 
of  the  penitent  woman,  47,  48. 

Behrends,  A.  J.  F.,  d.  d.,  allusion 
to  his  "Yale  Lectures  on 
Preaching,"  132. 

Bellamy,  Dr.,  his  advice  to  a  young 
minister,  106. 

Berridge,  John,  on  the  death  of 
Whitefield's  wife,  37. 


"Beseeching,"  a  New  Testament 
term  for  preaching,  17. 

"  Bible,  The,  in  History,"  the  basis 
of  a  course  of  sermons,  82. 

"Bible,  The,  iu  Literature,"  basis 
of  a  course  of  sermons,  82. 

Bible :  it  has  all  been  expounded 
in  the  course  of  a  minister's 
life,  82;  must  never  seem  to  be 
put  on  trial,  251;  if  opposed, 
burden  of  proof  rests  on  op- 
posers,  251 ;  its  truth  may  right- 
fully be  assumed,  251 ;  can  ad- 
duce testimony  in  its  favor,  251. 

Binney,  Dr.  Thomas,  on  a  general 
sense  of  the  value  of  religion, 
12. 

Biography,  biblical,  of  great  ex- 
pository value,  83,  84. 

Bi-shop,  the :  and  the  clergyman, 
188 ;  and  his  clergy,  322. 

Blaine,  Hon.  James  G.,  and  the 
non-conducting  nature  of  paper 
iu  preaching,  307. 

Blair,  Hugh,  on  reading  sermons, 
308. 

Bonar,  Andrew,  on  loving  one's 
audience,  363, 

Bossuet,  his  divisions,  165. 

Bourdaloue :  a  topical  preacher, 
57;  a  maxim  of,  122;  bashful- 
ness  of,  311. 

Briggs,  Prof.  C.  A.,  on  pulpit  exe- 
gesis, 212. 

Bright,  John  :  on  the  difference 
between  Gladstone's  oratory  and 
his  own,  160 ;  on  the  value  of  the 
conclusion  in  a  speech,  177;  a 
critical  moment  in  an  oratorical 
effort  of,  329. 

Broadus,  J.  A.,  "The  Preparation 
and  Delivery  of  Sermons,"  234. 

Brooks,  Phillips  (Bishop) :  on  pa- 
triotism in  the  pulpit,  8 ;  aroused 
the  intellects  of  his  audience, 
58 ;  his  cure  for  boniness  in  a 
sermon,  61 ;  one  of  his  conclu- 
sions quoted,  178;  on  the  pres- 


INDEX 


373 


ent  style  in  sermons,  198 ;  on  the 
treatment  of  ministers,  355 ;  his 
detinitiou  of  a  congregation. 

Brougham,  Lord,  on  "  picturesque 
expression,"  259,  260. 

Brown,  Dr.  John,  his  "Pilgrim 
Fathers  of  New  England  "  quot- 
ed, 100,  305. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  quoted,  ISO. 

Browning,  Robert,  his  "Andrea 
del  Sarto  "  quoted,  200. 

Bruce,  Prof.  A.  B.,  on  educating 
the  congregation,  222. 

Bunyan,  John :  his  imaginative 
power,  258 ;  his  description  of 
Mansoul,  267;  as  a  preacher, 
355;  his  response  to  a  compli- 
ment, 355. 

Burgess,  Dr.  John,  a  sermon-plan 
of,  166. 

Burning  point,  one  should  be  in 
every  sermon,  207. 

Burns,  W.  C,  evangelist  and  mis- 
sionary, a  sermon  by,  67. 

Burroughs,  John,  on  the  source  of 
interest  in  life,  103. 

Bushnell,  Horace  :  the  announced 
and  unannounced  text  of  his 
sermon  on  "Unconscious  In- 
fluence," 21 ;  his  use  of  accom- 
modated texts,  39,  40;  on  the  de- 
pendence of  preaching  on  think- 
ing, 339. 

Butler,  Bishop  Joseph:  his  "Fif- 
teen Sermons  at  the  Rolls 
Chapel,"  62,  226;  his  "Analogy 
of  Religion,"  236. 

Caird,  Dr.  John,  his  prorations 
worthy  of  attention,  181. 

Calvin,  John :  an  exjxjsitor.  85 ; 
his  letter  to  Protector  Somerset, 
304. 

Candlish,  Dr.  R.  S. :  his  method 
of  exposition,  81 ;  as  a  debt- 
raiser,  87. 

Carlyle,  Thomas:  a  maxim  of, 
106 ;  and  the  tanner,  135 ;  a  quo- 


tation from,  248;  on  imagina- 
tion, 256;  on  the  writer,  a 
preacher,  312 ;  on  swiftness  of 
writing,  343. 

Center  of  interest,  often  changes 
in  the  course  of  a  sermon,  182, 
183. 

Chalmers,  Dr.  Thomas :  an  apolo- 
gist before  a  preacher,  4  ;  a  top- 
ical preacher,  57 ;  engaged  the 
intellect  of  his  hearers,  58 ;  his 
"long-hand  sermons,"  60:  his 
sermons  few,  61 ;  his  sermon  on 
"  The  Expulsive  Power  of  a  New 
Affection,"  62;  Robert  Hall  on 
the  hinge  movement  of  the 
sermons  of,  62 ;  his  early  exper- 
iment in  preaching,  131,  l;?2 ; 
his  perorations  worthy  of  study, 
181 ;  his  advice  on  preparation 
for  the  pulpit,  195 ;  his  power, 
207;  his  reference  to  "magnifi- 
cent pauses,"  299;  read  his  ser- 
mons incomparably,  306;  his 
resolve  after  hearing  Andrew 
Fuller,  306;  on  impromptu 
preaching,  321. 

Channing,  W.  E. :  his  pulpit  style, 
10:  did  not  always  find  his 
theme  in  his  text,  59. 

Charles  II.  :  his  dying,  184 ;  his 
patience  as  a  hearer,  187 ;  issues 
an  ordinance  against  read  ser- 
mons, 305. 

Charnock,  Stephen,  length  of  his 
sermons,  187. 

Chase,  Chief  Justice,  the  result  of 
his  study  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, 226. 

Chrysostom :  his  practice  as  to 
text,  56;  his  complaint,  85;  an 
impressive  introduction  of,  153  ; 
his  popularity,  354  ;  his  remon- 
strance, 357. 

Cockran,  Mr.  Bourke ,  on  sub- 
stance of  oratory,  239. 

Coleridge :  a  striking  figure,  214 ; 
described  by  Hazlitt,    246;   his 


374 


INDEX 


canon  of  controversy,  247 ;  on  im- 
agination, 256  ;  on  painting,  270. 

Colet,  Dean :  an  expositor,  86 ; 
lectvired  on  a  large  portion  of 
the  New  Testament,  212. 

Commission,  A  Royal,  its  report 
on  state  of  Episcopal  Church  in 
England  in  Stuart  times,  107. 

Composite  Method  of  Delivery  of 
a  Sermon  (see  Delivery). 

Composition :  defined  by  Dryden, 
191 ;  defined  by  Ruskin,  191 ; 
necessary  to  the  preacher,  330. 

Conclusion  of  the  sermon  :  its  im- 
portance, 117  ;  may  be  recapitu- 
lation, 177, 178 ;  may  be  applica- 
tion, 178;  must  avoid  platitude, 
180 ;  may  be  historical,  181 ;  may 
be  drawn  from  Scripture,  181, 
182;  should  be  personal,  182; 
should  connect  with  all  the  ser- 
mon, 183 ;  should  not  often  con- 
sist of  poetry,  201. 

Context,  rules  for  the  discussion 
of,  35. 

Cook,  Joseph  :  on  preaching,  11 ; 
on  Wendell  Phillips,  270. 

Cotton,  John,  on  reading  a  ser- 
mon not  preaching  it,  305. 

Courses  of  sermons :  to  be  some- 
times recommended,  110;  should 
not  be  tedious,  110;  some  sub- 
jects for,  enumerated,  112;  can 
be  carried  on  mentally,  230. 

Cowper,  William,  on  the  abuse  of 
texts,  46. 

Cox,  Dr.  Samuel:  on  "The  Pri- 
vate Letters  of  St.  Paul  "  and 
"  St.  John,"  83  ;  on  the  "  Pilgrim 
Psalms,"  84. 

Criticism  unduly  minute,  apt  to 
err,  217. 

Crosby,  Dr.  Howard,  his  method 
of  preparing  an  exposition,  91. 

Cyclopedias  of  Illustration,  their 
value  discussed,  265. 

"  Da  Incem,  Domine,''  324  . 


Dale,  Dr.  Robert  William :  his 
"  Yale  Lectures  "  referred  to,  68, 
82,  127;  as  an  expositor,  92;  his 
"  Sermons  on  Special  Occa- 
sions" alluded  to,  55,  103;  his 
foresight,  104  ;  character  of  his 
preaching,  109 ;  a  ground  of  his 
popularity,  129;  his  "Life  of 
John  Angell  James"  quoted, 
137;  on  the  "diffused  applica- 
tion," 179;  his  reiison  for  using 
manuscript  in  pulpit,  312;  on 
time  required  for  a  new  thought 
to  enter  minds  of  a  congrega- 
tion, 360 ;  on  loving  the  congre- 
gation, 362. 

Davies'  "Successful  Preachers," 
284,  342,  349. 

"Declaring,"  a  New  Testament 
term  for  preaching,  23. 

Delivery  of  the  Sermon :  each 
preacher  must  independently 
determine  this,  291 ;  no  one  way 
of,  exclusively  the  best,  291 ;  its 
importance,  292 ;  temperament 
must  be  considered  in  deciding 
upon  the  way  of,  293 ;  intellect- 
ual characteristics  will  affect 
the  decision  as  to  the  method  of, 
293,  294 ;  in  determining  on 
method  of,  audience  must  be 
considered,  294;  requires  under 
any  method  careful  preparation, 
294  ;  must  be  alert,  295  ;  must  be 
natural,  295;  must  be  sympa- 
thetic with  subject  and  au- 
dience, 295,  369;  must  be  rev- 
erent, 297 ;  requires  self-posses- 
sion in  preacher,  299;  must  be 
suitable  to  occasion,  368;  must 
be  earnest,  370. 

Demosthenes,  illustration  from, 
260. 

Dickens,  on  a  preacher's  style, 
298,  299. 

Disputed  points  in  theology,  how 
best  treated,  230. 

Distinction  in  style,  198 


INDEX 


375 


Divisions  of  the  sermon :  should 
be  natural,  157 ;  save  sermonizer 
from  essay-writing,  157 ;  assist  in 
composing,  158 ;  secure  and 
evince  consecutive  thought,  158 ; 
help  in  delivery,  158;  emphasize 
thought.  159;  assist  in  transi- 
tions, 159;  excite  interest,  159, 
160 ;  assist  memory,  160 ;  assist 
aim  of  discourse,  160, 161 ;  should 
be  apparent,  161 ;  should  be  an- 
nounced, 161,  162;  the  place  of 
their  announcement  may  be  va- 
ried, 163  ;  number  of,  may  vary, 
163 ;  ought  to  be  few,  163,  161 ; 
reason  of  prevalent  fashion  in, 
164,  165 ;  two  have  sufficed,  165 ; 
should  be  interesting,  166; 
should  keep  to  meaning  of  text, 
167  ;  must  not  be  eccentric,  167  ; 
should  be  clear,  168;  should 
progress,  169, 170  ;  should  be  sym- 
metrical, 171,  172;  should  bear 
recapitulation,  172,  173 ;  should 
be  retained  in  use,  173, 174. 

Dogma  and  reality  connected,  125. 

Doubt,  its  variations,  232. 

Dryden  quoted,  191. 

Earnestness  is  not  vehemence,  180. 

Edwards,  Jonathan:  his  error  in 
the  treatment  of  texts,  57;  his 
"  Wrath  upon  the  Wicked  to  the 
Uttermost "  referred  to,  74 ; 
founds  morality  on  doctrine, 
126;  his  way  of  regaining  spir- 
itual glow,  130 ;  characterized 
by  Dr.  John  Duncan,  180 ;  read 
his  sermons,  but  not  exclusively, 
196 ;  on  the  necessity  of  under- 
standing, 220;  and  the  read  ser- 
mon, 306 ;  his  earnestness,  370. 

Eliot,  President,  on  the  supreme 
interest  in  theology,  129. 

Eliot,  George :  on  making  her 
plots,  121 ;  her  "  Sir  Hugo  Mal- 
linger,"  206;  her  influence  on 
preachers,  280, 


ElmsHe,  the  late  Professor,  his 
method  of  preaching  doctrine, 
128. 

Elocutionary  preparation  to  be  at- 
tended to,  329.  330. 

Eloquence:  defined  by  Emerson, 
10;  defined  by  Pascal,  244. 

Emerson :  on  eloquence,  10  ;  on 
the  preacher's  task,  14 :  on  lan- 
guage, 66;  on  the  reason  for  a 
new  sermon  being  made,  98 ; 
on  paying  regard  to  the  events 
of  the  day,  103 ;  on  method,  122 ; 
on  style,  193 ;  on  English  speech, 
193 ;  recommended  to  be  read. 
194  ;  on  preaching  as  "  addicted 
to  few  words,"  197 ;  on  Webster's 
oratory,  204;  on  "analysis  run 
to  seed,"  218;  on  imagination, 
257 ;  on  a  good  anecdote,  261 ;  on 
Thoreau,  269 ;  on  leaving  the 
ministry  to  be  a  good  minister. 
295 ;  desires  the  power  of  extem- 
poraneous speech,  326 ;  on  cour- 
age, 346. 

Ennius,  his  protest,  178. 

Erasmus :  on  arriving  at  real 
meaning  of  Scripture,  24;  was 
the  friend  of  exegesis,  212. 

Erskine,  Ebenezer,  David  Hume's 
estimate  of,  80. 

Erskine,  Lord  Henry,  discom- 
posed in  his  legal  addresses  by 
indifference,  330. 

Evangelist,  an,  and  "an  untow- 
ered  generation,"  42. 

Exchange,  Royal  London,  Mel- 
vill  on  its  destruction  by  fire,  38. 

Exegesis,  pulpit:  derivation  of, 
211:  definition  of,  211,  212;  not 
exposition,  211 ;  requires  a  writ- 
ten revelation,  212  ;  requires  in- 
telligent interpretation,  212 ;  re- 
quires faith,  213  ;  requires  rever- 
ence, 213  ;  requires  unction,  214  ; 
founded  on  homiletical  instinct, 
214,  215;  requires  scholarly 
tastes,     215;     requires     logical 


376 


INDEX 


acutenoss,  216 ;  requires  sound 
judgment,  216,  217 ;  recognizes 
tlie  full  scope  of  Scripture,  217; 
keeps  the  preacher  to  his  func- 
tion of  interpretation,  219 ;  is 
philosophical,  219 ;  conveys  a 
sense  of  authority,  220;  secures 
integrity  of  sermon,  220 ;  keeps 
discourse  fresh,  221 ;  trains  con- 
gregation to  .study  of  the  Bible, 
221,  222. 

Exeter  Cathedral,  the  strange  rec- 
ord found  there,  13. 

Expansion,  rhetorical,  ought  to  be 
cultivated,  205,  206. 

Exposition :  varied,  79 ;  its  sim- 
plest form,  79 ;  may  be  a  mere 
enumeration  with  improvement 
of  the  occurrences  of  a  word,  79, 
80 ;  may  rest  on  the  occurrence  of 
a  phrase,  80 ;  when  non-natural, 
vicious,  80;  sometimes  takes  a 
complete  passage  of  Scripture, 
81 ;  may  treat  of  a  passage 
clause  by  clause,  81 ;  may  make 
a  text  the  center  of  the  passage 
containing  it,  81 ;  of  entire  Bi- 
ble not  impossible,  82 ;  of  some 
one  book  of  the  Bible  commend- 
able, 82;  of  sacred  biography 
always  interesting,  83 ;  may  in- 
clude a  group  of  scriptural  sub- 
jects, 84  ;  a  natural  way  of  en- 
forcing truth,  84;  has  scriptural 
precedent,  84,  85;  incites  to 
study  of  Bible,  85;  allows  of 
complete  presentation  of  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit,  86 ;  builds  up 
in  divine  truth,  both  congrega- 
tion and  pastor.  87,  88  ;  requires 
faith  on  part  of  preacher,  88 ; 
requires  selective  powers,  88,  89  ; 
requires  some  training  in  logi- 
cal processes,  89,  90 ;  not  a  class- 
room lecture,  90 ;  require  stu- 
dious habits,  90,  91 ;  the  practice 
of,  should  begin  with  a  short 
book  or  portion  of  Scripture.  91 : 


preacher  should  make  trial 
trips  in,  91 ;  practice  of,  helped 
by  study  of  the  masters  therein, 
92;  marred  by  exposition  of 
processes,  92 ;  should  contain 
pre-composed  sentences,  93;  its 
help,  93. 

Eye,  an  aid  to  the  speaker,  308, 
309. 

Ezra,  an  exemplary  expositor,  84, 
85. 

Faith,  essential,  in  the  exegete. 
213. 

Farrar,  F.  W. :  keeps  a  sleepy  no- 
bleman awake,  82 ;  on  our  Sav- 
iour's illustrations,  285 ;  on  ex- 
temporaneous preaching,  326 ; 
the  time  taken  by  In  writing  a 
sermon,  342. 

Fastidiousness:  the  aphasia,  of, 
200  ;  not  to  be  cultivated  in  the 
pulpit,  313. 

Felicities  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion which  present  themselves 
in  the  excitement  of  address, 
347. 

F^nelon  :  on  relation  of  sermon  to 
theme,  99 ;  employed  two  di- 
visions, 165. 

Finney,  C.  G. :  his  use  of  three 
texts,  32  ;  his  lawyer  audiences, 
226 ;  on  reading  in  the  pulpit, 
306;  occasionally  changed  his 
topic  when  in  pulpit,  322. 

Fletcher  of  Madeley  :  his  eleva- 
tion of  mind  while  preaching, 
296 ;  sometimes  changed  topic 
in  presence  of  audience,  322. 

Forgetfulness  in  delivery:  is  to 
be  accepted  without  hesitation, 
347  ;  the  matter  in  which  it  oc- 
curs is  not  germane  to  matter  in 
hand,  348. 

Forster,  John:  his  "Life  of 
Charles  Dickens,"  315;  on  his 
own  style,  122 ;  deficient  in  ora- 
torical temperament,  20:? ;  Robert 


INDEX 


377 


Hall's  criticism  on,  203;  his 
complaint,  227;  why  he  failed 
as  a  preacher,  292 ;  his  habit  in 
the  pulpit,  355. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  his  saying  as 
to  speeches  which  read  well, 
203. 

Francis  of  Assisi :  how  he  preach- 
ed, 16;  his  compulsion  to  preach 
by  an  imperious  need,  370. 

Francis  de  Sales:  on  good  utter- 
ance, 292;  on  real  point  of 
preaching,  365  ;  his  test  of  a  ser- 
mon, 366. 

Fraser,  Bishop :  on  the  prophet  be- 
ing needed  at  present  rather 
than  the  priest,  9 ;  on  "  the  man 
out  of  gear  with  his  times,"  362. 

French  preacher,  A,  describes  an 
audience  under  the  pang  of  a 
deferred  conclusion,  185. 

Froude:  his  indictment  against 
the  English  pulpit,  135;  recom- 
mended, 194 ;  on  men  of  high 
sincerity  seldom  speaking  well, 
327. 

Fuller,  Andrew:  and  the  con- 
ceited young  preacher,  42 ;  an 
excellent  sermon-plan  by,  67: 
on  the  need  of  illustrations  in 
preaching,  267;  the  impression 
made  by,  on  Chalmers,  306  ;  his 
soliloquy,  363. 

Fuller,  Thomas:  his  admiration 
for  a  tedious  divine.  111 ;  a  say- 
ing of,  164;  irreverently  treats 
a  text,  168;  on  "wincing"  an 
evidence  of  "salt "  in  discourse, 
234 ;  on  the  imagination,  255  ;  on 
a  sermon  "steeped  in  tears," 
295,  296. 

Galatians,  a  good  book  for  exposi- 
tion, 83. 

Garrick :  on  Whitefleld,  298 ;  and 
the  clergyman,  298. 

Gee,  R. :  his  book,  "  Our  Preach- 
ers, "on  innutritive  intellectual- 


ism,  233  ;  quotes  a  "  pictuiesque 
expression  "  from  the  death  sen- 
tence of  a  judge,  260;  on  the 
disadvantage  of  using  manu- 
script in  preaching,  307 ;  on  a 
preacher  commanding  his  pa- 
per, 314. 

George  III.,  his  remark  on  receiv- 
ing Watson's  "  Apology,"  126. 

George  IV.,  how  a  preacher  cele- 
brated his  coronation,  37. 

German  rationalistic  pastor,  a  ser- 
mon-plan of,  167. 

German  usage,  in  relation  to  text, 
27. 

Germany,  Protestant,  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  preaching  there,  131. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  on  style  the  im- 
age of  the  author's  mind,  193. 

Gillespie :  his  famous  impromptu 
answer  to  Selden,  324 ;  his 
prayer,  324. 

Gladstone :  his  reminiscence  of 
Chalmers,  11 ;  his  complaint 
against  the  clergy,  135 ;  Bright 
on  the  oratory  of,  160:  on  rela- 
tion of  speaker  and  audience, 
361. 

Goethe :  on  originality,  108 ;  on 
"the  unutterable  kernel  of  a 
matter,"  228. 

"Goodness  of  God"  as  a  sermon- 
theme  discussed,  101. 

Goodwin,  Bishop  Harvey,  on  the 
mixture  of  listeners  constitut- 
ing a  difficulty  of  preaching, 
365. 

Goodwin,  Thomas:  on  the  "con- 
text "  ;  his  advice  to  Oxford  stu- 
dents, 130. 

Gray,  Thomas,  his  suggestive  epi- 
thet, 266. 

Greek  Fathers,  indulged  in  long 
sermons,  186. 

Guthrie,  Thomas :  his  method  of 
preparing  a  sermon,  12 ;  his 
"  three  P's,"  15  ;  his  discourse  on 
"The  Messenger,"  22;  dares  to 


378 


INDEX 


open  with  vivid  pictures,  150: 
his  pulpit  style  underwent  a 
change,  197 ;  eulogized  by 
"Times"  of  London,  197;  the 
word-painter,  2(33 ;  on  illustra- 
tion, 2G8 ;  his  danger,  283 ;  on  de- 
livery, 292,  293  ;  objects  to  read- 
ing sermons,  809;  influenced  by 
pulpit  traditions  of  his  land, 
316. 

Hall,  John :  on  re-reading  the 
composed  sermon,  344,  345 ;  on 
recalling  a  sermon,  350. 

Hall,  Bishop  Joseph,  his  pulpit 
practice,  380. 

Hall,  Robert,  Sr.,  as  an  expositor, 
43. 

Hall,  Robert :  his  early  mistake  as 
a  preacher,  4 ;  on  preaching  to 
touch  the  conscience,  11,  12  ;  his 
••  Modern  Infidelity  Considered 
with  Respect  to  its  Influence  on 
Society,"  58,  198;  his  criticism 
on  Chalmers,  62 ;  on  wrangling 
about  Christianity's  title,  126 ; 
his  advice  to  a  young  minister, 
135;  a  sermon-plan  by,  171; 
Wesley's  criticism  upon  preach- 
i  n  g  of,  181 ;  his  preparation 
worthy  of  study,  181 ;  on  stop, 
and  finish,  184 ;  on  usefulness 
of  writing,  196 ;  anecdote  of,  248 ; 
on  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  2G6 ; 
his  sermon  preparation,  316  :  his 
surprise  at  forgotten  oratory, 
325 :  on  connection  between 
writing  and  speaking,  328 ;  his 
enunciation  of  the  word  "  tear," 
330;  his  sense  of  his  congrega- 
tion's feelings,  356. 

Hamilton,  Dr.  James,  referred  to, 
285. 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  on  Guth- 
rie, 269. 

Hanna,  Dr.  William,  his  "  Life  of 
Chalmers"  quoted,  132,  195. 

Harpoon,  a  sermon  without  a,  179. 


Harris,  Richard,  his  "  Advocacy  " 
quoted,  145,  150,  151,  183. 

Harrison,  Rev.  A.  J,,  on  classes  of 
unbelievers,  232. 

Hatcli,  Edwin,  "Hibbert  Lec- 
tures "  quoted,  134. 

Hazlitt,  William :  on  Rembrandt's 
"Jacob's  Ladder,"  11;  Byron's 
criticism  of  his  style,  200 ;  on 
Coleridge,  246. 

Head,  the  stolen,  348. 

Health :  an  element  in  delivery, 
293  ;  its  importance,  344,  345. 

Hearers,  the  three  grounds  which 
a  preacher  may  regard  as  com- 
mon to  all,  365. 

Hearing,  eloquent :  an  essential  to 
presentation  of  the  truth,  353, 
360,  361 ;  important  because  in- 
fluence of  sermon  transient,  353, 
354 ;  it  can  be  obtained,  354  ;  is 
helpful  to  ministere,  355,  356; 
gave  acceptance  to  discourses 
unimpressive  now  to  us,  356; 
hindered  by  repugnance  to  re- 
ligion, .357  ;  hindered  by  hearer's 
physical  condition,  359 ;  hinder- 
ed by  general  inability  to  think 
long  on  any  one  subject,  359 ; 
hindered  by  different  relations 
of  preacher  and  people  to  appre- 
hension of  subject,  360:  hin- 
drances to,  may  be  in  preacher 
himself,  360:  on  what  it  depends, 
361 ;  secured  by  a  preacher  who 
prepares  with  his  audience  in 
view,  362 :  secured  by  subjects 
of  immediate  interest,  362 :  se- 
cured by  a  preacher  who  realizes 
his  audience  in  the  comjwsition 
of  his  discourse,  364 ;  secured 
by  delivery  of  sermon,  368. 

Hecla,  Mount,  as  a  figure,  277. 

Henry,  Matthew :  why  so  broad 
in  his  view,  49  :  is  often  textual- 
inferential  in  method,  72;  ex- 
pounds the  whole  Bible,  82  ;  his 
influence  on  preachers,  86;  his 


INDEX 


379 


long  pastorate,  87 ;  his  extended 
courses  of  sermons,  110 ;  refers 
to  his  father,  134. 

Henry,  Patrick,  on  the  study  oi 
men,  not  books,  11. 

Henry,  Philip,  father  of  Matthew  : 
his  course  on  prodigal  son,  110 ; 
on  "second  table  duties,"  134; 
his  resolve,  249. 

Herbert,  George,  quoted,  356. 

Hesiod,  his  dictum,  184. 

Hilary,  a  spiritualizing  expositor, 
43. 

Hill,  A.  S. :  "Our  English,"  198; 
principles  of  rhetoric,  205. 

Hill,  Rowland,  a  degrading  com- 
parison of,  286;  on  "dried 
tongues,"  307;  individualized, 
370. 

History,  modern,  deals  much  with 
lives,  137. 

Holyoake,  George  Jacob,  quoted, 
181,  202,  293. 

"  Homilies,  The  Book  of,"  304. 

Homily,  16. 

Hood,  E.  P.,  15. 

Hood,  Thomas,  quoted,  23. 

Hook,  Dean :  his  text  in  his  fa- 
mous sermon  before  the  Queen 
of  England,  28 ;  his  prescription 
to  the  young  preacher,  331 :  the 
style  he  cultivated  in  his  writ- 
ten sermons,  342. 

Hooker,  Richard,  on  the  "now or 
never"  character  of  extempora- 
neous sermons,  13,  354. 

Hort,  Dr.  F.  J.  A.,  his  verbal  fas- 
tidiousness, 200 ;  on  Maurice,  353. 

Howe,  John,  his  prolixity  in  in- 
troduction to  his  sermons,  149. 

Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  269. 

Hume,  David,  his  respect  for  Ebe- 
nezer  Erskine.  8. 

Huntingdon,  William,  the  hyper- 
Calvinistic  preacher,  an  in- 
stance of  his  method,  43. 

Hurst,  Bishop  J.  F.,  his  "  History 
of  Rationalism  "  referred  to,  167. 


Hutton,  "  Essays  "  of,  265,  276. 

Huxley,  Thomas:  on  want  of  lu- 
cidity, 228  ;  on  the  Bible,  273  ;  a 
"  test  object  for  orators,  338." 

Ideas :  rhetorical  development  of, 
in  a  discourse,  337,  338 ;  in  con- 
ception should  be  noble,  338 ; 
must  be  personally  appre- 
hended, 338 ;  bring  words,  339  ; 
must  be  in  logical  order  in  dis- 
course, 339 ;  their  expression, 
340. 

Ifs,  of  the  eleventh  of  John,  31. 

Ignorance,  leads  to  mistake  in  the 
selection  of  texts,  42. 

Illustration,  in  the  sermon  :  its  re- 
lation to  other  rhetorical  ele- 
ments, 255 ;  excites  imagination, 
255;  reasons  why  its  power  may 
be  employed  to  arouse  imagina- 
tion, 255-259;  is  various,  259; 
may  be  employed  in  preacher's 
vocabulary,  269 :  may  be  em- 
ployed by  way  of  suggestion,  200, 
261 :  may  be  employed  in  simile, 
261,  262 ;  may  be  employed  in 
metaphor,  261 ;  may  be  employed 
in  full  description,  263 ;  may  be 
employed  in  anecdote  or  story, 
263,  264  ;  helps  by  rousing  imag- 
ination to  help  in  thought  and 
composition,  266,  267 ;  assists  in 
clearness,  267, 268 ;  secures  econ- 
omy of  expression,  267,  268  :  ar- 
rests hearer's  attention,  268,  269 ; 
promotes  conviction,  269,  270; 
uses  first  the  Bible,  273  ;  uses  inci- 
dents of  daily  life,  274 ;  teachings 
of  Jesus,  275  ;  history,  276 ;  nat 
ural  history,  278,  279  ;  literature, 
280  ;  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  280  ; 
science,  280,  281  ;  subordinate  to 
thought,  282 ;  must  not  be  over- 
done, 283;  one  usually  enough 
for  one  point,  283 :  must  not  be 
elaborated  overmuch,  283  :  must 
illustrate,    284 ;    when    a    hin- 


38o 


INDEX 


drance,  284 :  should  be  apparent 
at  once.  285  ;  should  be  suitable, 
285 ;  some  not  good  in  all  places, 
286 ;  should  be  suitable  to  cir- 
cumstances, 286 ;  must  be  accu- 
rate, 287  ;  drawn  from  daily  life 
of  hearers  effective,  288. 

Illustrations,  Cyclopedias  of,  re- 
ferred to,  265,  275. 

Imagination :  should  not  be  de- 
spised l)y  preachers,  255 ;  is  noble, 
255,  256;  "creates,"  256;  is  fac- 
ulty most  easily  reached  by 
preacher,  256 ;  possessed  by  every 
one,  257;  makes  truth  vivid, 
257,  258 ;  affects  all  parts  of  our 
nature,  257;  even  a  moral 
agency,  258 ;  appealed  to  in  the 
Bible,  258,  259 ;  the  scriptural, 
stimulated  by  sight  of  country, 
259  ;  should  be  in  the  conception 
of  the  sermon,  266;  assists  in 
composition  of  sermon,  266 ; 
when  gratified,  truth  finds  an 
easier  acceptance,  368. 

Impromptu  delivery  :  never  to  be 
unnecessarily  trusted  to,  322  :  is 
to  be  exercised  when  providen- 
tial, 322. 

Ingersoll,  Col.  Robert  G. :  his  ad- 
vice, 109 ;  on  story-telling,  265. 

Inspiration  from  a  sermon,  how 
received,  367. 

Instinct:  for  souls,  an,  15;  homi- 
letical,  the,  214,  215  ;  logical,  the, 
240. 

Interest,  center  of,  changes  in 
course  of  address,  182,  183,  369. 

Introduction  to  the  sermon  :  con- 
sidered, 143-153 ;  resembles  a 
prelude  to  a  poem,  143;  resem- 
bles a  preface  to  a  book,  144  ;  re- 
sembles a  portico  to  a  building, 
114  ;  resembles  the  opening  of  a 
case  in  law,  144,  145:  should  ar- 
rest attention,  145;  should  ad- 
dress the  whole  nature,  145; 
is  the  place  for  exegesis,  145, 


146  :  should  bring  preacher  and 
hearers  in  touch,  146  ;  should  be 
pertinent  to  text  and  theme, 
148 ;  may  lead  immediately  to  the 
divisions,  148, 149  ;  must  be  brief, 
149;  should  be  natural,  150; 
should  not  be  florid,  1.50 ;  should 
be  in  brief  sentences,  150,  151 : 
should  be  on  an  easy  level,  151  ; 
should  be  in  a  calm  tone,  151, 
152;  should  be  worthy  of  intelli- 
gent hearers,  152,  153 ;  its  im- 
portance, 177. 

Irving,  Edward:  what  evangelism 
owes  to,  218;  and  the  shoe- 
maker, 288. 

Irving,  Washington,  on  Bible,  274. 

Jacobi,  a  spiritual  complex,  232. 

James,  John  Angell :  as  a  histori- 
cal sermonizer,  137 ;  on  divisions, 
as  an  aid  to  memory,  160 ;  his 
mental  distress  previous  to  pub- 
lic appearances,  34 ;  his  hesi- 
tancy as  to  how  to  deliver 
the  sermon  before  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  311 ;  con- 
trasted with  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale,  his 
assistant  and  successor,  367. 

Jay,  William :  preaches  on  practi- 
cal subjects,  102;  his  biblical 
conclusions,  182 ;  on  John  Fos- 
ter in  the  pulpit,  292;  on  the 
well-prepared  man,  345. 

Jesus  Christ,  an  exix)sitor,  85. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel :  his  pen- 
chant for  "stately  shops,"  109; 
his  complaint  of  contemporary 
sermons,  202 ;  on  the  hardness 
of  "getting  a  fact,"  228;  on  ar- 
guing to  increase  ideas,  242; 
invention  then  embellishment, 
282  :  his  aversion  to  putting  the 
Bible  on  its  trial  once  a  week, 
251 ;  his  contempt  for  bodily  ac- 
tion in  speaking,  308;  reflects 
upon  a  congregation,  358. 

Jonson,  Ben,  on  Lord  Bacon,  370. 


INDEX 


381 


Joubert,  his  maxim,  68. 

Journalists,  text  of  a  sermon  be- 
fore, 40. 

Jowett.  Prof.  Benjamin:  his  text- 
ual "peg,"  26;  his  ill-chosen 
texts,  26,  45;  characterizes  his 
own  sermons,  99 :  on  a  fixed 
statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  230. 

Judge,  an  English  :  on  the  length 
of  a  sermon,  187;  "picturesque 
expression  "  of,  260. 

Judgment,  sound,  needed  in  an 
exegete,  216. 

Justin  Martyr,  on  preaching  in 
second  century,  85. 

"Keep,"  keynote  of  Psalm  121, 
28. 

Ker,  Dr.  John :  on  value  of  a  hom- 
iletic  notebook,  49;  on  meta- 
phors as  arguments,  270 ;  on 
choice  of  illustrations,  286. 

Kilmeny,  the  parish  where 
Chalmers  learnt  the  aim  of 
preaching,  132. 

Kirk,  Dr.  E.  N.,  his  enumeration 
of  requisites  in  extemporaneous 
speech,  323. 

Knibb,  William,  his  impressive 
fetter-scene  in  Exeter  Hall,  268. 

Knox,  John :  his  fearless  conduct 
in  pulpit,  5;  an  expositor,  86; 
on  "  divagation  "  in  preaching, 
87. 

"L's,  the  four,"  of  life's  voyage, 
278. 

Lacordaire:  an  instance  of  rhe- 
torical expansion  from,  206  ;  his 
Conferences,  how  prepared,  322. 

Lamb,  Charles,  helped  his  style  by 
care  bestowed  on  his  East  In- 
dia reports,  195, 196. 

Lane,  his  "  Life  of  Alexander 
Vinet,"  125. 

Language  of  daily  life  should  be 
used  in  pulpit,  197. 


Latimer,  Hugh,  at  St.  Margaret's 
Church,  Westminster,  354. 

Latin  Fathers,  length  of  their  ser- 
mons, 186. 

Lawyer,  The,  his  "  highest  author- 
ity," 44. 

Legend,  a  mediseval,  356. 

Leighton,  Archbishop  Robert,  249. 

Leonardo  de  Vinci,  anatomist  that 
he  might  be  painter,  158. 

Liddon,  Canon  H.  P.:  "The  Idea 
of  Religion"  by,  58;  on  su)j- 
stance  and  not  words,  217 ;  on 
"Some  Elements  of  Religion," 
230;  his  "Life  of  Pusey  "  quot- 
ed, 245 ;  his  style  described,  250. 

Lightfoot,  Bisiiop  J.  B.,  on  polem- 
ics, 248. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  how  he  came 
to  know  when  a  thing  was 
proved,  241. 

Literary  form  of  discourse:  im- 
portant, 192 ;  attracts  and  holds 
an  audience,  192 ;  audiences  at- 
tentive to,  192;  has  inseparable 
connection  with  thought.  192, 
193  ;  reflects  the  character  of  the 
preacher,  193 ;  is  in  a  high  de- 
gree possible  through  our  Eng- 
lish speech,  193,  194 ;  helped  by 
reading  of  best  authors,  194 ; 
helped  by  frequent  writing. 
194,  195 ;  requires  time,  195,  198, 
199  ;  requires  our  best  writing  al- 
ways, 195, 196 ;  requires  constant 
writing,  197 ;  should  be  charac- 
terized by  freshness,  197  ;  should 
be  varied,  197  ;  should  be  free  of 
conventional  platitudes,  198 ; 
should  be  the  preacher's  own, 
198  ;  should  be  finished,  198, 199 : 
must  not  be  overmuch  elabo- 
rated, 199,  200. 

Logic  and  faith,  245. 

Logical  acuteness,  its  importance 
to  the  preacher,  216,  239,  240. 

Longfellow,  H.  W. :  on  a  true  ser- 
mon, 10,  363  ;  on  a  sermon  upon 


382 


INDEX 


the  atonement,  128 ;  on  a  "  dry  " 
and  "dreary"  sermon,  243; 
could  not  always  be  an  attentive 
hearer,  358. 

"  Loose,  bind,"  341. 

Lord  Chancelor  of  England,  on 
preaching  as  a  department  of 
rhetoric,  349. 

Lowell,  J.  R. :  on  the  discomfort 
of  writing  against  time,  195 ;  on 
preaching  to  the  living,  244  ;  on 
speaking  the  tip-top  thought  of 
every  hearer,  361. 

Luther :  the  simplicity  of  his  pul- 
pit style,  10;  on  the  solemnity 
of  being  "  in  the  place  of  God," 
12 ;  an  expositor,  86 ;  contrasts 
himself  with  WicklifTe  and 
Huss,  132 ;  on  knowing  when  to 
stop,  188  ;  on  "  the  proper  sense  " 
of  Scripture,  212 ;  on  Christians 
alone  able  to  give  the  Bible  to 
the  world,  213;  his  ''Bonus 
Textuarius  bo  mis  Tlieologus, ' ' 
220 ;  on  advantage  of  seeing  with 
one's  own  eyes,  338;  his  lifelong 
nervousness.  346;  an  extrava- 
gance of,  360,  361 ;  his  descrip- 
tion of  a  good  sermon,  367. 

Lye.  Thomas,  his  numerous  di- 
visions, 164. 

Macaulay,  Lord  T.  B. :  Morley  on, 
103 ;  his  works  recommended, 
194, 280 ;  on  imagination,  256,  257. 

Macmillan,  Dr.  Hugh,  his  "Bible 
Teachings  in  Nature,"  2.35,  278. 

Magee.  Archbishop :  his  sermon 
preached  in  Dublin  at  disestab- 
lishment of  Episcopal  church  in 
Ireland,  :^8;  one  secret  of  his 
greatness  as  a  preacher,  99 ;  on 
the  sermon  as  a  wedge,  100  ;  on 
the  sense  of  power,  120;  his 
"Norwich  Cathedral  Dis- 
courses," 230;  on  "thinking" 
and  "arguing."  246;  on  the  fre- 
quent correlative   to  "saint  in 


the  pulpit,"  222 ;  his  advice  to 
his  clergy,  323 ;  his  studiousness, 
341 ;  his  classification  of  preach- 
ing, 370. 

Manning,  Cardinal,  a  sermon-plan 
of,  121. 

Manton,  Thomas,  praised  by  Spur- 
geon  because  he  placed  his  mes- 
sage before  his  style,  282. 

Marriage,  strange  text  for  an  ad- 
dress at,  41. 

Mason,  J.  M.,  his  perorations 
worthy  of  study,  181. 

Massillon :  the  introduction  to  a 
sermon  before  Louis  XIV.,  147; 
his  funeral  sermon  on  Louis 
XIV.,  152,  181  ;  his  perorations 
to  be  studied,  181. 

Masterful  moments,  325. 

Matthews,  William,  his  "Great 
Conversers  "  quoted,  240. 

Maurice,  F.  D. :  on  the  weakness 
of  theology,  126;  a  quotation 
from,  213,  214  ;  Hort  upon,  353. 

McAll,  R.  W.,  his  style  criticised 
by  a  rustic  audience,  192. 

McCheyne,  R.  M. :  on  the  sermons 
of  the  Acts,  8,  9 ;  on  his  changed 
views  of  rules  for  sermon-mak- 
ing, 229 :  his  impressive  appear- 
ance in  the  pulpit,  291. 

Maclaren,  Alexander:  his  "A 
Pattern  for  Prayer,"  81;  his 
"  Epistles  of  Paul  to  the  Colos- 
sians  and  Ephesians,"  83;  his 
"  Life  of  David  as  Reflected  in 
the  Psalms,"  84 ;  an  expositor, 
92;  on  pulpit  preparation,  115; 
on  how  the  gospel  becomes  the 
gospel,  131 ;  his  use  of  divisions, 
173 ;  an  exegetical  example  from, 
212;  on  the  foundations  of  his 
influence,  221 ;  on  mistakes  of 
confounding  one's  deductions 
with  the  truth  itself,  250;  an  il- 
lustration of  suggestion  from, 
201 ;  illustration  from  Austra 
lian  pasture,  279. 


INDEX 


383 


McNeil,  Rev.  John:  his  easily  re- 
membered division,  169 ;  on  the 
eye  in  religious  address,  309. 

Melancthon  :  his  "  Commentary 
on  the  Romans,"  212  ;  his  rule  of 
exegesis,  219. 

Melvill,  Henry :  his  use  of  accom- 
modated texts,  38,  39 ;  his  climax 
surmounted  by  his  text,  49 ;  ad- 
vances in  argument  in  his  ser- 
mon, 62 ;  his  perorations  worthy 
of  study.  181. 

Mesopotamia,  alleged  power  of 
the  mere  word  in  the  mouth  of 
Whitefield,  330. 

Metaphor :  what,  262 ;  its  use  in 
illustration,  262 ;  when  an  argu- 
ment, 270. 

Methodist  revival,  its  influence  on 
morals,  134. 

Mill,  James,  on  knowing  how  to 
put  a  thought  to  an  audience, 
159. 

Millet,  his  "  Angelus  "  as  inter- 
preted by  Drummond,  282. 

Milton :  his  text  in  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  27;  on  limitations  in  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture,  218. 

Miracles  of  Christ,  The,  a  good 
material  for  a  course  of  sermons, 
84. 

Mirror  to  be  used  in  rehearsal, 
345. 

Missions,  a  transcendent  topic  for 
the  pulpit,  140. 

Moberly,  Bishop  George,  on  the  re- 
ligious help  of  country  life,  259. 

Moltke,  General  von,  on  the  pul- 
pit zealot,  246. 

Monk,  A,  the  solemn  trifling  of,  in 
a  sermon,  81. 

Monod,  Adolphe:  his  prayer  pre- 
paratory to  preaching,  4 ;  a  ser- 
mon-plan by,  173. 

Montaigne,  on  words  and  matter, 
68. 

Moody,  D.  L.,  his  simple  exposi- 
tions, 92. 


Morley,  John  :  on  Macaulay's  suc- 
cess as  a  writer,  103 ;  on  finding 
right  word,  199. 

Morrison,  C.  R.,  his  "  Proofs  of  the 
Resurrection  from  a  Lawyer's 
Standpoint,"  226. 

"Motif,''  the  musical  composer's 
text,  26. 

Mozley,  Canon  J.  B.,  one  who 
aroused  the  intellects  of  his  au- 
dience, 58. 

Mullois,  Abbe :  on  harangues  of 
Napoleon,  187  :  on  seven  minute 
sermons,  187. 

Mulready,  on  anatomy  and  paint- 
ing, 158. 

Mustache,  should  not  be  worn  by 
a  preacher,  308. 

Napoleon  :  a  lesson  from  his  fate, 
177 ;  his  estimate  of  the  power  of 
imagination,  256. 

Natural  History,  a  source  of  illus- 
tration, 278. 

'*  Net,  The  Breaking,"  a  historical 
sermon,  38. 

Nettleship,  H.,  his  "Moral  In- 
fluence of  Literature  "  referred 
to,  365. 

Newman,  Cardinal  J.  H. :  his  ser- 
mons elaborate  one  thought,  62 ; 
on  a  certain  advertisement  of 
sermons,  187;  his  works  recom- 
mended, 194  ;  his  pain  in  literary 
production,  194 ;  on  expressing 
his  meaning,  199 ;  on  a  way  of 
settling  many  controversies, 
228. 

Newspaper,  The,  a  punning  selec- 
tion of  a  text  for  sermon  upon, 
45. 

Nichol's  Puritan  Library  referred 
to.  164,  173. 

Niagara:  its  dwarfing  effect  as  a 
background,  35,  36 ;  the  frozen, 
an  illustration  from,  277. 

Non-sequacious  minds,  339. 

Notebook,  homiletic:  an  index 


384 


INDEX 


of  texts,  48,  101 ;  a  repository  of 
"  discoursable  "  material,  104;  a 
list  of  subjects  preached  u^xju, 
104. 

Notes  of  discourse,  preparation  of, 
for  use  in  pulpit,  333. 

Novelist  affords  a  hint  to  sermon- 
izer,  120. 

Occasions,  influence  treatment  of 
texts,  54,  5o. 

Onesimus,  strong  influence  of 
Paul's  preaching  upon,  134. 

Origen  and  his  school,  their  weak- 
ness as  expositors,  42. 

Originality,  what  it  is,  108. 

Orr,  Mrs.,  her  "Life  of  Robert 
Browning,"  257. 

Orton,  Job,  on  the  polish  which 
destroys  the  edge,  200. 

Oratorical  quality  in  sermons: 
commands  emotions  of  hearers, 
202 ;  is  based  on  speaker's  in- 
stinct, 202 ;  shows  itself  in 
choice  of  words,  204 ;  shows  it- 
self in  arrangement  of  sen- 
tences, 205 ;  shows  itself  in  im- 
press of  whole  sermon,  205. 

"P's,  Three,"  of  Guthrie,  14,  15, 
191. 

Painting,  according  to  Coleridge, 
270. 

Paley,  Archdeacon  W. :  on  di- 
visions, 157 ;  a  saying  of,  226 ; 
his  "  Natural  Theology,"  235. 

Parables,  the,  as  material  for  a 
course  of  sermons,  84. 

Parker,  Dr.  Joseph :  his  text  on 
return  from  vacation,  4S  ;  an  ex- 
positor, 82;  on  magniloquent 
words,  204;  "God  not  a  God  of 
etymology  or  syntax,"  217  ;  on 
reading  sermons,  307 ;  on  extem- 
poraneous thinking,  323 ;  his 
"Ad  Clerurn"  quoted,  347;  on 
preparation  of  the  sermon,  349. 

Parker,  Theodore,  on  the  Bible, 
274. 


Parkhurst,  Dr.,  on  plan,  122. 

Parsons,  James,  of  York,  181. 

Pascal,  Blaise :  his  remark  on  a 
"  Provincial  Letter,"  188 ;  on  the 
delight  resting  in  argument, 
242  ;  on  eloquence,  244,  283  ;  on 
imagination,  257. 

Patrick,  St.,  and  the  shamrock, 
261,  262. 

Paul,  a  practical  preacher,  134. 

Payson,  Edward,  his  review  of  a 
six  months'  work,  104. 

Pearse,  Mark  Guy :  his  treatment  of 
the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son, 
148,  149 ;  the  fate  of  the  fish  off 
Cape  Horn,  how  used  by  him,  277. 

Pepys,  Samuel,  an  entry  in  his 
journal,  358. 

Perversion  of  texts,  36,  37. 

Phelps,  Austin,  his  "Theory  of 
Preaching"  quoted,  38,  47,  73, 
111,  153,268. 

Philemon,  "the  polite  Epistle," 
as  the  basis  of  a  course  of  ser- 
mons, 91. 

Phillips,  Wendell :  advice  of  to 
an  anxious  extemporaneous 
preacher,  323 ;  inaccuracies  of 
his  spoken  addresses,  329 ;  his 
prescription  for  learning  to 
speak.  344. 

"Picturesque  expression,"  259, 
260. 

"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  280. 

Pitt,  William :  text  of  the  sermon 
preached  before  him  at  Oxford, 
40 ;  his  eye,  309 ;  his  advice  to  a 
young  speaker,  339,  340. 

Plan,  the :  preparations  for,  116 ; 
some  preliminary  points  on,  11  (V- 
118;  must  be  sketched,  120; 
must  be  thoroughly  worke<l 
over,  120;  is  the  foundation  of 
ease  and  efficiency  in  composi- 
tion and  delivery,  121 ;  more  im- 
portant than  expression.  122 ; 
under  composite  method  of  ser- 
mon-delivery, 339. 


INDEX 


385 


'Place,"  its  origin  as  a  term  in 
discourse,  161. 

Pliny's  advice,  99. 

Poetic  quotation,  requires  careful 
usage,  201. 

Polemical  spirit,  a,  to  be  avoided, 
248. 

Police,  the  text  of  a  sermon  to, 
37. 

Pope's  odes  recalled,  184. 

"Posada,"'  Spanish,  92. 

Postillatiug,  what,  23. 

Preach,  the  New  Testament  terms 
which  cover  its  various  depart- 
ments, 16,  17. 

Preacher:  how  freed  from  self- 
consciousness,  4 ;  the  young,  in 
danger  of  attempting  too  much, 
7  ;  a  divine  messenger,  8 ;  should 
be  human,  10;  should  be  natu- 
rally a  speaker,  10 ;  should  have 
moral  and  spiritual  qualifica- 
tions, 11 ;  should  deliver  his 
message,  11 ;  the  easy-going,  re- 
proved, 18 ;  may  keep  a  record 
of  reasons  for  sermon  prepara- 
tions, 15;  cannot  often  discuss 
context,  35  ;  a  Baptist,  his  per- 
version of  a  text,  36  ;  great  doc- 
trinal, usually  metaphysical, 
127 ;  assistant  agencies  of,  326. 

Preaching :  defined,  3  ;  its  matter. 
3  ;  its  limit,  3 ;  is  the  delivery  of 
a  message  from  God  to  man,  3  ; 
is  founded  on  Scripture,  6 ; 
should  be  in  touch  with  God 
and  man,  6;  extent  of,  7;  the 
most  natural  method  of  com- 
municating divine  truth,  9  ;  his- 
tory proves  efficiency  of,  in 
reaching  men,  9;  related  to  an 
audience,  11 ;  respects  audience, 
12  ;  its  purpose,  15  ;  on  what  it 
lays  stress,  15;  must  employ 
every  form  of  discourse,  16-18  ; 
its  aim,  57,  58,  from  a  text, 
whence  it  comes,  85. 

Preaching,  textual  (see  Sermon). 


Preludes,  35. 

Preparation  for  pulpit:  is  indi- 
vidual, 115;  Guthrie's  method 
of,  115 ;  Archbishop  Myers'  meth- 
od of,  115;  Spurgeon's  method 
of,  115;  Dr.  Maclaren's  method 
of,  115;  Beecher's  method  of, 
116. 

Prince  of  Orange  and  the  divinity 
student,  170. 

Pritchard,  Charles,  "Analysis  of 
Nature  and  Grace,"  235. 

Probability,  its  degree,  236. 

"Prologues"  and  "Preludes,"  25. 

Prose  quotations,  acknowledg- 
ment of,  209. 

Proverbs,  how  treated,  54. 

Pulpit  address,  three  kinds  of,  in- 
dicated in  New  Testament,  16. 

Pulsford,  John,  D.  D.,  illustrates 
the  "nebulous  mind,"  106;  one 
of  his  themes,  106. 

Punshon,  Morley,  181. 

Puritan:  a,  saying,  6;  on  "And 
Bartholomew,"  29;  an  amusing 
division  made  by  a,  68 ;  a,  defense 
of  Calvinism,  167;  preachers 
rich  in  imagery,  258 ;  structure 
of,  sermons  compels  reading,  305. 

Purpose :  should  be  a  characteris- 
tic of  every  sermon,  98;  it  in- 
sures in  the  sermon  presence  of 
one  theme,  99. 

Quaker,  Baxter's  reply  to  the,  321, 
Quintilian :  on  extemporaneous 
speech,  325,  326 ;  his  advice,  338 ; 
on  writing,  341. 
Quotations:  to  be  employed,  200; 
used  with  restraint,  200;  of 
prose,  when  indebtedness  should 
be  acknowledged,  201;  of 
poetry,  the  fewer  the  better,  201 ; 
poetical,  should  never  end  ser- 
mon, 201. 

Sailors,  detect  errors  in  the  lands- 
man preacher,  287. 


386 


INDEX 


Sainte  Beuve,  on  a  poet  in  every 
man,  257. 

Salt,  learning  as,  217. 

Salting  sermonic  mines,  80. 

rfavouarola,  his  impressiveness, 
354. 

"  Savoir  se  homer,''  its  value,  101. 

"  Scharfsicht,''  21. 

Schiller,  his  test  of  knowledge  of 
a  thing,  345. 

Schleiermacher,  his  message,  131. 

Scotland,  influence  of  expository 
preaching  upon,  86. 

Seebohm,  Frederic,  his  "Oxford 
Reformers,"  24. 

Selden,  John:  on  learning,  218; 
his  advice,  240;  replied  to  by 
Gillespie,  324. 

Seneca,  Caligula  upon  his  style, 
282. 

Series  of  sermons  on  related  texts, 
31,  32. 

Sermon :  three  points  concerning, 
3  ;  should  be  positive,  8;  should 
be  in  touch  with  God  and  man, 
1 1 ;  should  affect  conscience, 
12 ;  must  interest  at  once,  13,  14  ; 
should  be  an  articulated  whole, 
14 ;  aim  of,  15 ;  varieties  of, 
15-18 ;  classification  of,  53  ;  clas- 
sification of,  according  to  theme, 
125. 

Sermon,  the  Topical :  defined, 
55 ;  its  origin,  55,  56 ;  how  dis- 
tinguished, from  textual  ser- 
mon, 56 ;  is  rhetorically  perfect, 
56,  57 ;  permits  a  thorough  ex- 
amination of  theme,  57 ;  trains 
to  breadth  of  view,  57,  58 ;  may 
lead  to  a  neglect  of  God's  word, 
58,  59;  not  most  useful,  59,  60; 
hampers  freedom,  60;  its  style 
rhetorical,  61 ;  its  arrangement 
suitable  to  subject,  61,  62. 

Sermon,  the  Textual :  defined,  65  ; 
divided,  65;  commended,  74,  75. 

Sermon,  the  Textual  Proper :  de- 
fined, 65 ;  its  relation  to  mean- 


ing of  text,  65,  66 ;  the  skill  re- 
quired for  its  composition,  66, 
67 ;  its  divisions  should  be  natu- 
ral and  easy,  67,  68  ;  its  division 
should  advance  in  thought,  68, 
69. 

Sermon,  the  Textual-Topical :  de- 
fined, 69 ;  how  distinguished 
from  Textual  Proper,  69,  70 ;  the 
character  of  divisions  of,  70; 
should  cumulate  in  thought,  71 ; 
secures  freshness  and  variety, 
71,  72. 

Sermon,  the  Textual-Inferential : 
defined,  72,  73;  suits  an  argu- 
mentative mind,  73 ;  not  com- 
mon, 73 ;  is  very  effective. 

Sermon,  the  Expository  (see  Ex- 
position). 

Sermon,  the  Doctrinal :  favorable 
to  inculcation  of  morality,  125, 
126 ;  is  not  apologetic,  126 ;  is  not 
polemical,  126,  127 ;  is  didactic, 
127  ;  is  philosophical,  127, 128  ;  is 
practical,  128 ;  important  to  the 
dignity  of  the  pulpit,  129 ;  impor- 
tant as  a  benefit  to  the  preacher, 
129, 130 ;  important  to  intelligent 
belief,  130,  131 ;  is  important  in 
moral  reform,  131, 132. 

Sermon,  the  Ethical :  defined,  133 ; 
includes  the  sermon  which  de- 
fines personal  duties,  133  ;  is  de- 
manded by  religion,  133;  in- 
cludes the  sermon  which  en- 
forces right  living  generally,  131 ; 
includes  the  sermons  enforcing 
relative  duties,  135;  may  treat 
of  sanitation,  and  reforms,  so- 
cial, municipal,  and  national, 
136. 

Sermon,  the  Historical  :  defined, 
136 ;  is  true  to  method  of  Scrip- 
ture, l;>6 ;  secures  attention,  136 ; 
is  in  harmony  with  prevailing 
literary  taste,  136,  137  ;  its  prep- 
aration requires  great  pains,  137. 

Sermon,    the    Experimental :    is 


INDEX 


3S7 


strong  in  influence,  137 ;  is  brief 
and  local  in  fame,  137 ;  its  four- 
fold aim,  138;  themes  for,  sug- 
gested easily  to  the  good  pastor, 
138. 

Sermon,  the  Occasional :  defined, 
139;  is  preached  at  a  special 
time  in  the  Christian  year,  139 ; 
is  preached  on  patriotic  occa- 
sions, 139;  involves  philan- 
thropic subjects,  140;  presents 
the  missionary  theme,  140. 

Sermon,  the  Read :  has  not  scrip- 
tural sanction,  303  ;  has  few  his- 
torical precedents,  304 ;  is  philo- 
sophically objectionable,  306, 
307;  heard  by  audience  with  a 
sense  of  separation  and  dis- 
tance, 306,  307 ;  produces  a  sense 
of  unreality,  307;  has  no  rhe- 
torical parallel,  308;  it  cripples 
gesture,  308 ;  prevents  facial  ex- 
pression, 308 ;  it  is  untrue  to  the 
ideal  of  preaching,  310;  may  be 
practised  by  one  who  lacks  ora- 
torical temperament,  311 ;  may 
be  used  by  ministers  who  are  too 
fluent,  312;  may  perhaps  be 
used  in  case  of  exhaustive 
treatment,  313;  is  regarded  by 
many  as  the  only  method  suita- 
ble, 313;  should  be  in  a  style 
suitable  to  spoken  discourse, 
314 ;  must  be  free  from  errors  of 
composition,  314  ;  must  be  read 
by  one  able  to  use  freely  a  full 
manuscript,  314;  requires  agood 
reader,  315;  should  not  be 
adopted  permanently,  316. 

Sermon,  the  Memorized :  is  some- 
times mentally  composed  and 
memorized,  316  ;  is  usually  writ- 
ten and  memorized,  316  ;  sup- 
presses the  higher  faculties  and 
stimulates  mere  memory,  317 ; 
is  opposed  to  spontaneity,  317; 
is  undesirable  since  it  "stints 
the  Spirit,"  318. 


Sermon,  the  Extemporaneous-, 
defined,  321 ;  not  impromptu 
preaching,  321 ;  implies  special 
fitness,  322;  requires  that  pre- 
vious study  has  mastered  the 
lines  of  discourse,  323;  allows 
of  the  previous  choice  of  words 
and  composition  of  sentences, 
323,  324 ;  requires  special  prep- 
aration of  the  heart,  324 ;  is  nat- 
ural, 324,  325;  is  convenient, 
325 ;  is  rhetorically  excellent, 
325;  may  depress,  326;  not  one 
man  in  a  thousand  can  wisely 
adopt,  326;  has  sanction  of 
great  names,  326;  is  not  easy, 
326,  327 ;  deteriorates  without 
care,  327;  must  have  a  mind 
well  stored,  328 ;  requires  con- 
stant composing,  3^8,  329;  re- 
quires elocutionary  preparation, 
329 ;  requires  self-discipline  in 
composure,  330 ;  is  sometimes 
practised  with  no  notes.  331 ; 
sometimes  a  brief  is  prepared  for 
but  not  used,  331  ;  sometimes  a 
brief  is  taken  into  the  pulpit 
for,  232. 

Sermon,  the  Comix)site  method  of 
delivery  of  the :  is  the  best  way 
for  the  largest  number  of 
preachers,  337;  defined,  3,37;  re- 
quires full  and  careful  prepara- 
tion, 337 ;  involves  making  one's 
own  all  ideas  to  be  presented, 
338;  requires  arrangement  of 
ideas  in  logical  order,  339; 
how  it  differs  from  memoriz- 
ing, 339,  340;  allows  of  the  ser- 
mon being  written  out  in  full, 
340 ;  compared  with  other  meth- 
ods, 343,  344  ;  second  great  ele- 
ment of,  free  delivery,  344; 
needs  resolution  in  delivery, 
344;  requires  attention  to 
health,  344  ;  necessitates  regular 
habits  of  work,  344 ;  requires 
rhetorical  preparation,  345 ;  re- 


388 


INDEX 


quires  pulpit  experience,  346; 
will  not  ensure  immediate  suc- 
cess, 346 ;  will  ultimately  be  ac- 
companied by  self-possession, 
347 ;  admits  of  impromptu  felic- 
ities of  thouglit  and  expression, 
347;  with  practice  will  become 
more  accurate,  347 ;  obviates  dif- 
ficulties in  other  methods,  348, 
349 ;  combines  more  excellen- 
cies than  any  other,  349 ;  fur- 
nishes a  store  of  useful  mate- 
rial, 349,  350 ;  assures  a  fair  level 
of  excellence,  350. 

Shakespeare:  text  of  a  sermon 
preached  against  proposed  re- 
moval of  bones  of,  39 ;  quoted, 
218,  276,  299. 

Shelley,  his  practice  in  regard  to 
words,  199. 

Shepperton  Church,  George  Eliot's 
description  of  the  sermon  In, 
244. 

Shuttleworth,  Professor  (Oxford), 
advice  of,  to  young  clergy,  130. 

Simile,  what,  261. 

Simplicity,  impressive,  153. 

Smith,  G.  A. :  an  expositor,  92 ; 
a  sermon  plan  by,  171. 

Smith,  H.  B.,  on  the  study  of 
painting  and  statuary,  281. 

Smith,  J.  B.,  his  practice  in  the 
pulpit,  333. 

Smith,  Sydney:  preface  to  his 
"Sermons"  quoted,  133;  on 
"  multifariousness  of  style,"  197  : 
on  the  disorganizing  influence 
of  a  sparrow,  3.58. 

Socrates:  on  eloquence,  338;  sub- 
stituted for  Saviour,  275. 

South :  his  indefensible  use  of 
texts,  28  ;  a  quotation  from,  295. 

Spanish :  description  of  a  tedious 
writer,  7;  " posada,"  92;  prov- 
erb, 188. 

Speaker  and  orator  distinguished, 
202. 

Spencer,  Thomas,  a  pathetic  evi- 


dence of  his  early  sermonic 
preparation,  195. 

Spurgeon,  C.  H. :  his  view  of 
Christianity,  4;  his  sermon  on 
"  I  have  sinned,"  31 ;  his  strange 
text,  48;  on  teaching  the  whole 
of  divine  truth,  49  ;  an  elaborate 
sermon-plan  of,  70,  71 ;  one  of 
the  last  testimonies  of,  109 ;  on 
keeping  to  old  truths,  109,  110; 
on  soaking  in  text,  118 ;  a  reason 
of  his  popularity,  129 ;  on  great 
preaching,  130;  on  divisions, 
163  ;  on  artistic  plan  of,  172  ;  uses 
divisions,  173 ;  one  of  his  con- 
clusions quoted,  182;  length  of 
sermons  by,  187 ;  has  proved 
talk  to  be  the  perfection  of 
preaching,  197 ;  his  contempt  for 
a  "boiled  potatoes"  style,  200; 
read  Carlyle,  200;  his  sermons 
evolved  from  heart,  202 ;  places 
undue  emphasis  on  words,  217 ; 
on  biblical  illustration,  273  ;  on 
trees  marked  for  the  axe,  276 ; 
praises  Manton,  282 ;  an  illustra- 
tion from,  283 ;  on  the  voice, 
297 ;  on  reading  sermons,  307 ; 
his  preparation,  325;  on  pulpit 
style,  329;  his  custom  in  early 
ministry,  331 ;  on  writing  ser- 
mons, 340 ;  urges  writing,  341 ; 
on  poor  sermons,  346. 

Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn  :  an  ex- 
positor, 92;  his  fear  in  early 
ministry,  105 ;  on  sustained  ef- 
forts, 129  ;  "  Life  of "  referred  to, 
242;  on  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  history,  27C  ;  his  interest 
in  Dr.  Arnold's  preaching,  364. 

Stearns,  O.  S.,  d.  d.,  "Introduc- 
tion of  to  the  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament,"  83. 

Sterne,  Laurence  :  his  sneer,  25 ; 
introduced  his  sermons  with  a 
quip,  152 ;  his  pulpit  demeanor, 
152. 

Stewart,   Dugald,  on    the   injury 


INDEX 


389 


done  by  considering  "  fictitious 
distress,"  285. 

Stewart,  Gilbert,  his  recipe  for 
teaching  young  painters,  344. 

Storrs,  R.  S. :  his  practice  before 
large  audiences,  307 ;  on  ex- 
tempore preaching,  327  ;  on  im- 
portance of  writing  in  sermon 
preparation,  329;  prepares  a 
brief,  331. 

Sub-divisions,  should  not  be  an- 
nounced, 163. 

Subject-matter  of  text  should  form 
complete  theme,  44. 

Suggestion,  what,  260. 

Summerfield,  John,  his  impressive 
appearance  in  pulpit,  296. 

Swift,  Dean:  his  "Letter  to  a 
Young  Clergyman,"  126  ;  on  the 
style  of  contemporaneous  free- 
thinkers, 192. 

Sydney,  Sir  Philip,  on  how  to 
write,  193. 

Symmetry  of  sermon,  to  be  re- 
garded, 205. 

Synagogue,  influences  Christian 
worship,  85. 

"  Talked,"  a  term  for  preaching  in 
New  Testament,  16. 

Taste,  scholarly,  in  practice : 
shows  itself  in  accurate  treat- 
ment of  text,  215  ;  shows  itself 
in  vigorous  treatment  of  theme, 
216. 

Taylor,  Jeremy:  his  style,  260; 
his  use  of  similes,  262 ;  on  book 
of  Psalms,  276 ;  illustrated  over- 
much, 283. 

Taylor,  W.  M. :  his  "Elijah,"  84: 
an  exi)ositor,  92;  his  "Scotch 
Pulpit,"  178,  196,  305,  306,  315; 
his  "Yale  Lectures,"  127,  314. 

"Teaching,"  a  New  Testament 
term  for  preaching,  17. 

Tennyson:  in  "In  Memoriam " 
has  a  text,  27  :  could  work  when 
he  saw  his  subject,  118  ;  his  com- 


plaint, 194  ;  his  use  of  suggestive 
terms  illustrated,  261;  compel- 
ling a  language  from  external 
world,  276  ;  to  be  read,  280. 

"Tenses  of  a  Verb,  Comfort  in," 
215. 

Terence,  his  resolve,  197. 

Terms,  not  enough,  130. 

"Testifying,"  a  New  Testament 
term  for  preaching,  17. 

Testimony,  argument  from,  234. 

Text:  its  derivation,  21;  takes  us 
back  to  times  of  exclusively  ex- 
pository preaching,  21 ;  may 
cover  a  whole  passage,  21 ;  usu- 
ally refers  to  some  few  words 
read,  21,  2'?.;  should  be  a  rhe- 
torical sentence,  22 ;  arose  from 
Jewish  practice  of  glossing  the 
Scripture  read,  22,  23 ;  was  not 
used  by  inspired  apostles,  23,  55  ; 
was  used  by  their  uninspired 
successors,  23,  55  ;  how  used  pre- 
vious to  thirteenth  century,  23 ; 
submitted  to  more  elaborate 
treatment  from  thirteenth  cen- 
tury on,  23  ;  may  induce  a  slav- 
ish and  limiting  adherence,  24  ; 
may  lead  to  a  chopping  of  Scrip- 
ture inimical  to  its  intelligent 
comprehension,  24 ;  is  artificial 
and  unrhetorical,  24,  25 ;  pre- 
vents desultoriness,  25 ;  insures 
some  reference  to  Scripture,  25  : 
ought  to  be  chosen  before  ser- 
mon is  composed,  25,  26 ;  as  a 
"  word  of  the  Lord  "  it  gives  au- 
thority, 26  ;  its  use  not  confined 
to  pulpit,  20,  27;  should  be  gen- 
erally used,  27 ;  may  be  an- 
nounced variously,  27;  old  Ger- 
man usage  regarding,  27 ;  should 
form  a  complete  sentence,  28 : 
a  "  fractional,"  often  impressive. 
28 ;  its  length  determined  by 
theme,  29 ;  the  fashion  of  an 
exceedingly  short,  not  com- 
mendable, 29 ;   may    consist   of 


390 


INDEX 


passages  which  corroborate, 
complement,  or  contrast,  29,  30  ; 
may  consist  of  the  same  words 
or  phrases  in  different  connec- 
tions, 31,  215;  subject-matter  of, 
defined,  35 ;  in  its  treatment 
context  cannot  be  made  promi- 
nent, 35,  36;  in  its  treatment 
context  must  not  be  violated, 
36 ;  must  be  reverently  treated, 
37 ;  must  not  be  misused,  37 ; 
must  not  be  chosen  from  un- 
worthy motives,  37,  38;  an  ac- 
commodated, to  be  carefully 
used,  38,  39;  must  be  intelli- 
gently used,  38,  39;  must  be  in- 
telligently treated,  41 ;  a  spu- 
rious, must  be  avoided,  41 ;  ig- 
norance often  shown  in  the 
choice  and  use  of  a,  42,  43  ;  an 
uninspired  Scripture  not  fit  to 
be  a,  43,  44  ;  its  subject-matter 
should  form  a  complete  theme, 
44 ;  should  be  suitable  to  theme, 
44,  45 ;  its  selection  decided  by 
subject,  45 ;  its  selection  should 
be  conscientious,  45,  46;  should 
not  be  tortured  to  extort  theme 
from  it,  46;  should  clearly  ex 
press  the  theme,  47;  influences 
the  treatment  of  the  theme,  47, 
48 ;  ought  to  be  a  fresh  presenta- 
tion of  the  theme,  48 ;  a  less- 
known,  good  to  enforce  a  ta- 
miliar  truth,  18  ;  should  be  en- 
tered  in  a  notelxiok,  48,  49; 
should  be  used  frequently  dur- 
ing delivery  of  sermon,  49,  50 ; 
announcement  of,  should  be  pre- 
faced by  some  few  words,  50; 
a  manner  of  announcement  of, 
50;  encourage  hearers  to  find, 
50;  suggests  theme  of  discourse, 
53  ;  treatment  of,  basis  of  a  clas- 
sification of  sermons,  5:5 ;  often 
suggests  method  of  treatment, 
53,  54 ;  occasion  determines 
treatment  of,  54, 55 ;  mental  con- 


stitution will  determine  treat- 
ment of,  55 ;  why  it  became  un- 
popular, 55;  was  not  used  by 
many  of  the  Fathers,  56;  rela- 
tion of  its  choice  to  theme,  56. 

Thackeray,  to  be  read,  280. 

Theme  of  sermon :  its  relation  to 
text,  22,  29,  defined,  97 ;  preacher 
must  "know  its  frontiers,"  97; 
must  come  from  text,  97 ;  should 
be  evident  in  text,  97,  98; 
should  be  modified  by  purpose 
of  sermon,  98;  insures  arrange- 
ment, 99 ;  promotes  unity  in  dis- 
course, 99,  100 ;  ought  to  be  evi- 
dent throughout,  100 ;  should 
be  adhered  to,  100 ;  gives  com- 
pactness to  discourse,  100;  best 
announced,  100,  101 ;  definable, 
100,  101 ;  limited,  101 ;  comes 
from  Bible,  102 ;  comes  from  pas- 
toral work,  102,  103 ;  suggested 
by  special  occasions,  103 ;  sug- 
gested by  intercourse  with  other 
preachers,  103  ;  comes  from  note- 
book, 104,  105;  its  thought 
should  be  clear,  ia5,  106:  its 
wording  should  be  clear.  106, 
107;  should  be  of  present  in- 
terest, 107 ;  should  be  suitable  to 
the  pulpit,  107,  108;  should  be 
fresh,  108;  should  be  important, 
109 ;  should  frequently  involve 
saving  truths  of  the  gospel,  109  ; 
should  sometimes  be  in  coui^ses, 
110;  suggests  itself  sometimes 
with  the  text,  116;  its  develop- 
ment, 117, 118:  stages  in  its  de- 
velopment, 118-121 ;  is  developed 
from  study  of  text,  118;  is  de- 
veloped with  reference  to  con- 
text, 118,  119:  is  develojied  by 
study  of  parallel  passages,  119; 
is  developed  by  study  of  litera- 
ture of  text,  119 ;  is  developed 
by  illustrative  aids,  119. 

Tholuck  :  words  of.  on  a  sermon, 
6 ;  on  Jonathan  Edwards,  216. 


INDEX 


391 


Thoreau,  Emerson  on,  269. 

"Times,"  The  London,  on  Guth- 
rie, 197. 

Tone,  monotony  of,  to  be  avoided, 
297. 

Topstone,  its  importance,  205. 

Tower  of  London,  Melvill  on  a  fire 
in  the,  39. 

Transitions  of  discourse,  117,  118, 
203. 

Trench,  Archbishop,  on  parables 
as  arguments,  269. 

"  Trinity  "  :  its  use  as  a  term  in 
the  pulpit,  231 ;  preached  by  in- 
ference, 231 ;  Bushnell  on,  231. 

TroUope,  Anthony,  an  element  in 
the  formation  of  his  style,  196. 

Tulloch,  John,  his  "Life  of  Pas- 
cal "  referred  to,  242,  244,  283. 

Turtle,  the  wrong,  40,  41. 

Twentieth  anniversary,  a  text  al- 
lowable at,  36. 

Unction  in  sermon,  214. 

Uninspired  utterances  of  Scrip- 
ture to  be  noted,  43,  44. 

Universalist  preacher,  his  text,  44. 

University  chaplain  text,  39. 

Usher  who  heard  Bampton  lec- 
tures, 242. 

Vacation  :  Parker's  text  on  return 
from,  48;  reading  for,  241. 

Van  Dyke:  his  "Gospel  for  an 
Age  of  Doubt,"  231 ;  his  "Little 
Rivers,"  278. 

Variety  in  sermons  to  be  culti- 
vated, 54. 

Vincent,  M.  R. :  his  article  "The 
Expositor  in  the  Pulpit."  82  ;  on 
Candlish,  87. 

Vinet,  Alexander:  on  relation  of 
dogma  to  morality,  125  ;  his  im- 
pressive pulpit  appearance,  296 ; 
on  preaching,  368. 

Voice,  its  regulation,  297. 

Voltaire :  on  use  of  texts,  24 ;  a 
sneer  of,  245. 


Walker,  G.  S.,  "Some  Aspects  of 
the  Religious  Life  of  New  Eng- 
land," on  Whitefield*s  elo- 
quence, 310. 

Walton,  Izaak,  his  "  Complete 
Angler"  recommended,  278. 

Ward,  W.  G.,  on  simplicity,  283. 

Watson,  Dr.  John,  on  preaching 
the  gospel,  5. 

Wayland,  Francis  (President) :  an 
expositor,  92;  on  writing  ser- 
mons, 340. 

Wayland,  H.  L.,  d.  d.,  a  plan  by, 
166. 

Webster,  Daniel :  his  complaint  of 
an  opponent,  7  ;  his  advice,  107  ; 
on  clear  definition,  168 ;  on  the 
gospel  a  personal  matter,  179, 
180 ;  his  style,  according  to  Em- 
erson, 204  ;  and  definitions,  221 ; 
his  eye,  309:  his  denial  of  ex- 
temporaneous acquisition,  323. 

Welsh  preacher,  his  advice,  178. 

Wensleydale,  Lord,  on  the  advan- 
tages possessed  by  preachers, 
246. 

Wesley,  John :  on  grasping  at  the 
stars,  101 ;  on  the  sermons  of 
Robert  Hall,  181. 

Westcott,  Brooke  F.,  on  "The Gos- 
pel of  the  Resurrection,"  234. 

Whately,  Archbishop  Richard : 
indignant  at  fragmentary  texts, 
28;  a  witty  saying  of,  98;  on 
straw  with  oats,  206 ;  a  quota- 
tion from,  250;  a  repartee  of, 
257. 

White,  Edward,  on  firing  the  guns 
of  the  biblical  battery  in  order, 
86,  87. 

White,  Gilbert,  his  "Natural  His- 
tory of  Selborne,"  278. 

Whitefield,  George:  text  of,  at  his 
wife's  funeral,  37;  his  lesson 
from  Luther  and  the  Zwinglians, 
248,  249:  cultivated  an  impres- 
sive manner,  295 ;  one  reason 
for  success  of,  in  America,  310; 


392 


INDEX 


the  ardor  of  his  Connecticut 
hearers,  355. 

Whyte,  Dr.  Alexander,  quoted,  85, 
93. 

Wilberforce,  Bishop:  his  advice, 
195;  and  the  countryman,  211, 
242  ;  a  fine  metaphor  of,  262 ;  an 
illustration  from,  268 ;  reference 
to  life  of,  285;  his  confession, 
294 ;  his  practice  in  pulpit,  332. 

Wilkes,  John,  his  word-coinage, 
264. 

Wilks,  Matthew,  his  sermon  on 
"Afterwards,"  31. 

"Williams,  W.,  his  "  Reminiscences 
of  Spurgeon,"  340. 

Woburn,  length  of  sermon  preach- 
ed at  planting  of  first  church 
at,  187. 

Word,  wait  for  the  right,  198. 

Wordsworth,  recommended,   280. 


"Write,  blessed,"  42. 

Writing  of  sermon:  demands 
time,  195 ;  requires  one's  best 
always,  195;  needs  constant 
I)ractice,  195 ;  gives  exactness  of 
expression,  340 ;  gives  literary 
finish,  340;  gives  rhetorical 
force,  341 ;  restrains  preacher's 
vocabulary,  341 ;  time  required 
for,  varies,  342 ;  should  be  unin- 
terrupted, 343  ;  should  be  at  one 
sitting,  343. 

Young's  Concordance  recom- 
mended, 119. 

Zola,  Emile,  his  extensive  prepa- 
ration for  a  story,  121. 

Zwingli,  his  effective  preaching, 
369. 


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